{"id":94025,"date":"2023-12-13T16:55:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T00:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=94025"},"modified":"2023-12-13T16:55:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T00:55:59","slug":"white-alligator-racing-changes-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/white-alligator-racing-changes-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"White Alligator Racing Changes Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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White Alligator Racing helped Chase Van Sant earn NHRA’s 2023 Rookie of the Year award – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The landscape in NHRA\u2019s Pro Stock Motorcycle category is changing in 2024, as veteran crew chief Tim Kulungian takes over ownership of White Alligator Racing (WAR) from 2017 class champion Jerry Savoie. Savoie stepped away from full-time competition in 2023 after hiring Chase Van Sant as one of two Suzuki riders, with John Hall on the second motorcycle.<\/p>\n

When Van Sant, who was named 2023 NHRA Rookie of the Year suffered a season-ending knee injury during the October Dallas competition, Savoie returned for the final two races of the season at Las Vegas and Pomona. Showing few signs of the layoff at Las Vegas, Savoie went to the semifinals where he ceded to 2023 Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Gaige Herrera\u2019s Suzuki by .0938 seconds. At Pomona, he was out in the first round against 2010 champ LE Tonglet\u2019s Suzuki by .0681 sec.<\/p>\n

Whether those results cemented Savoie\u2019s decision to cede the team to Kulungian isn\u2019t known, but Savoie was pleased with Kulungian\u2019s work as both crew chief and team manager per the past dozen years and, while he hasn\u2019t stated as much at this time, felt that ceding ownership of the team to Kulungian was the right thing to do. The COVID emergency played into Savoie\u2019s hands, as did the hurricanes striking his Louisiana home that ravaged the white alligator farm that Savoie owns and operates. The financial issues were devastating to the rider\u2019s ability to continue racing.<\/p>\n

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Tim Kulungian has managed WAR for a dozen years; in 2024 he takes over the team’s ownership – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jerry Savoie had said he\u2019d only make a few appearances in the 2023 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle campaign and that\u2019s exactly what he did. It was time. After all, racing a motorcycle is not Savoie\u2019s method of earning his livelihood. Savoie and Kulungian had been talking about an ownership change for quite a while, since the middle of 2022, and by the close of this season, both of them were ready for the change. \u201cWe came to an agreement; we\u2019ve been very fair with one another,\u201d Kulungian noted.<\/p>\n

Tim Kulungian will begin his 13th season with White Alligator Racing (WAR) as its owner. He\u2019ll have a Suzuki TL1000 for Chase Van Sant\u2019s second year of competition (the team has two TL1000s and a single Gen 2 Hayabusa chassis) and is bringing a new rider to the team, Chris Bostick, who races a Suzuki Hayabusa Gen 3. The relationship with Bostick is a new one; there was no engagement during the season just ended.<\/p>\n

Bostick\u2019s entry on the WAR side of the PSM pits will amount to focusing on his riding, rather than having to tend to all aspects of his PSM entry. \u201cWe will take over running the motorcycle so he can focus on riding,\u201d Kulungian said. \u201cWe have all the solutions necessary for his program and we\u2019ll give him the opportunity to focus on his riding and competing.\u201d This past season, Bostick did it all: he worked on his bike, helped to tune his bike and, as Kulungian said, that requires a lot of resources. \u201cWe\u2019ve structured his program to allow him the convenience of just riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bostick\u2019s first entry in NHRA\u2019s Countdown to the Championship playoffs occurred in 2023; the rider is known for his exemplary 60-foot times. \u201cJoining White Alligator Racing is a fantastic opportunity and I\u2019m eager to contribute to the team\u2019s success,\u201d Bostick said. \u201cThis team\u2019s commitment to excellence and passion for the sport aligns perfectly with my values. together, I believe we can push the boundaries and make a significant impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chris Bostick joins WAR for 2024 – Anne Proffit photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tim Kulungian has been the face of WAR for nearly his entire tenure with the team. \u201cJerry trusted me; I had total control on how we do things. As far as managing the company, he allowed me to do my job,\u201d he said. And goals for 2024? \u201cWe continuously focus on the future of our sport and look to the next generation of riders. I am proud to be part of the group presenting opportunities for development of riders and teams that will take the sport forward,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a crew chief, it\u2019s my responsibility to make it as easy as possible for the rider to execute.\u201d And succeed.<\/p>\n

WAR Racing uses some Vance & Hines products, notably their cylinder heads and engine cases, but their engine development is sourced through KB Titan Racing. \u201cThey do all the engine development, with Competition Engine Services\u2019 Ron Moyer, who ran the Gray family\u2019s Pro Stock program,\u201d responsible for the engine side of their program. \u201cWe started working together in 2019 and into 2020; he went to KB Titan in late 2022, early 2023 and we followed him over there. They are our engine partners and they\u2019ve got a lot of resources.\u201d.<\/p>\n

As he ramps up his ownership program, Tim Kulungian intends to keep the WAR Racing nomenclature, due to its history, recognition, the accomplishments of its previous owner and the riders who have joined WAR at one time or another. He says he has exciting news about added sponsors – Trick Tools is the primary on Chase Van Sant\u2019s Suzuki – that should be revealed at or before the new year and season are engaged. The team of Van Sant and Bostick expect to start their testing program in Florida at the end of January and beginning of February, most likely at Bradenton Motorsports Park, due to the fact that it\u2019s the home of Pro Stock, Pro Mod testing and, in February plenty of racing. Testing on a \u201cgreen\u201d track isn\u2019t the preferred solution.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he expects to work with NHRA to help effect better rider safety for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, to help eliminate the issues that caused both his rider, Van Sant, and veteran Angie Smith to fall from their motorcycles and incur injuries in the shut-down area of the tracks. \u201cWe\u2019re pushing for all kinds of safety changes in the rider\u2019s equipment, especially in the area of elbows, arms, shoulders, hips, butts and knees in the leathers riders wear. We\u2019re also addressing footwear to increase protection on ankles and feet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With guys like Tim Kulungian – and a team like WAR Racing – in NHRA\u2019s Missions Foods Drag Racing Series\u2019 Pro Stock Motorcycle class in 2024, the sport is truly looking forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The landscape in NHRA\u2019s Pro Stock Motorcycle category is changing in 2024, as veteran crew chief Tim Kulungian takes over ownership of White Alligator Racing (WAR) from 2017 class champion Jerry Savoie.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":94027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3465,3470,5029],"tags":[9467,10081,9966,7,74,10083,10082,9466,9464],"class_list":["post-94025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-news","category-racing","tag-chase-van-sant","tag-chris-bostick","tag-mission-foods-drag-racing-series","tag-nhra","tag-pro-stock-motorcycle","tag-suzuki-gen-3-hayabusa","tag-suzuki-tl1000","tag-tim-kulungian","tag-white-alligator-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Van-Sant-races-Arana-jr-min-e1702515350605.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-osx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94037,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94025\/revisions\/94037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}