Jeg Coughlin Jr. apparently has no problem with a bull's-eye on his back as the current NHRA Pro Stock points leader held on to the top spot after final qualifying for eliminations at the 8th annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Coughlin drove the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a track-record elapsed time of 6.703 seconds at 205.47 mph for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 15th of his career. Jeg Coughlin Jr. apparently has no problem with a bull's-eye on his back as the current NHRA Pro Stock points leader held on to the top spot after final qualifying for eliminations at the 8th annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Coughlin drove the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a track-record elapsed time of 6.703 seconds at 205.47 mph for his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 15th of his career.

"We've had a great start thus far," Coughlin said.  "Our first two shots yesterday with our JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt were 6.70s both times and we were No. 1 qualifier.  We got a little aggressive in the left lane this morning.  We thought maybe we could tickle a .60 out of this thing but just didn't get away with it and had to abort the run.  But we came back and ran a nice 6.73 and tied Jason Line for low of the round.  The momentum we were looking for and the consistency we were looking for is exactly what we accomplished.  We didn't plan on aborting that run this morning, but we've got that behind us and really feel confident going into race day.  My father, Jeg Sr., and Roy Simmons, my crew chief, are doing an excellent job putting this car to the track and I'm having a ball driving it."

Coughlin holds a 74-point lead over second-place Kurt Johnson with two races remaining (Las Vegas, Pomona) in this year's Countdown to the Championship as the 38-year-old defending NHRA POWERade champion looks for his fourth career Pro Stock title (2000, 2002, 2007).  He will face the Dodge of Rickie Jones in tomorrow's first round of eliminations.

"Typically here at Las Vegas, The Strip is known for having two very competitive lanes," Coughlin said.  "We ran a great 6.73 down that right lane, and we thought we could get away with something better this morning down the better of the two lanes, the left, and we didn't.  I don't think lane choice is going to play a big factor.  The sun can play more havoc on the Christmas Tree itself for the drivers if we have some sun tomorrow.  It should be a little bit cooler with maybe some overcast, so we could see performances even get a little better.  One thing's for sure and that's in Pro Stock, you're going to see some door-handle-to-door-handle racing, and that's exciting for the fans.  For the drivers, that makes us pull our hair out, but we love it as well."