COUGHLIN ATOP PRO STOCK LADDER AT NHRA FALLNATIONALS
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is playing catch-up right now in his quest to win a fifth NHRA Pro Stock world championship.
Coughlin entered the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals near Dallas in fourth place, 81 points behind leader Tanner Gray.
Coughlin, who drives the JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro, is picking away at Gray’s lead and he did just that by landing in the No. 1 qualifying spot Saturday at the FallNationals with a 6.599-second lap at 207.53 mph on Friday.
“It feels great, first off to be wearing the green hat,” Coughlin said. “To be qualify No. 1 is really saying something. I think the top 11 are separated by less two hundredths of a second in Pro Stock. The competition is extremely, extremely tight, the crew chiefs all have the cars pretty darn good and the drivers are doing their thing to see us all packed up that tight. Coming off that (6).599 Friday night that was a really great poke. The big difference was (Friday) it was a bit dryer. The air was a little worse (Friday) but it was a bit dryer. Not having oxygenated fuel in a Pro Stock car (Saturday’s) high content of moisture in the air was tougher to choke down. The cars did slow down just a tick.”
This is Coughlin’s fourth No. 1 qualifying position this season to go along with the ones he captured in Norwalk, Ohio, Seattle and St. Louis, the last event on the circuit. This is the 27th No. 1 qualifying spot in his decorated NHRA career.
Coughlin has three wins this season at Chicago, Bristol, Tenn., and Sonoma, Calif. He takes on Val Smeland in the first round Sunday.
“We did a little testing with the Jegs.com car on the final run and we weren’t displeased,” Coughlin said. “I think we ran a (6).624 and car didn’t feel too great maybe about maybe 60 to 70 feet out and for the better part of the run it was pulling me a little bit left and just didn’t feel really efficient. I feel like we have a great handle on the car going into (Sunday) and be ready to get after come E1.”
Coughlin knows how important a win would be to his championship push.
“A win right now would certainly be a huge, huge help for us,” Coughlin said. “It would certainly continue our momentum that we feel like we have been building on the last couple of months. It also would help us in the points chase. There are four races left counting tomorrow’s game day and Pomona (Calif., the season finale) is points and a half, so there basically is 18 rounds of competition left and there’s a lot of racing left and it’s exciting. I think we have the best car going into Sunday and I feel great from behind the wheel.”