This is the type of high performance Jeg Coughlin is used to delivering.

Coughlin’s Jegs.com Chevrolet Cobalt was consistent all weekend, culminating with him using a holeshot to defeat Allen Johnson Sunday in the Pro Stock finals at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Coughlin clocked a 6.599-second time at 210.77 mph, while Johnson ran a quicker 6.596-second run at an identical 210.77 mph. The difference was at the starting line as Coughlin cut a .024 light compared to a .045 reaction time for Johnson.



This is the type of high performance Jeg Coughlin is used to delivering.

Coughlin’s Jegs.com Chevrolet Cobalt was consistent all weekend, culminating with him using a holeshot to defeat Allen Johnson Sunday in the Pro Stock finals at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Coughlin clocked a 6.599-second time at 210.77 mph, while Johnson ran a quicker 6.596-second run at an identical 210.77 mph. The difference was at the starting line as Coughlin cut a .024 light compared to a .045 reaction time for Johnson.

The national event win was Coughlin’s 49th and tied him for eighth place with Don Prudhomme on the NHRA’s all-time professional series victories list.

“Snake man, how about that,” said the 39-year-old Coughlin. “That’s cool. We have been doing this a long time as well, and the sport has been fantastic to the whole Coughlin family and everybody at Jegs. To get our 49th Pro Stock win and I think our 62nd national event win is awesome. This was the site of my first Pro Stock win back in 1997. This is a special place to me.”

Although Coughlin won Pro Stock world titles in 2007 and 2008, the past several races, dating back to last season, have been an emotional roller-coaster for his team.

“The way it seems like the last 10 or 12 races have gone for us to break through and have a great win here, I couldn’t think of a better place to do it at,” Coughlin said. “We have been showing some brilliance the last couple of weeks and then we have just been bowing out early on race day. That’s has been very disheartening for us. We have been working hard and meeting quite a bit, quite honestly over the telephone with Victor Cagnazzi and Todd Bevis, our chassis builder, my father Jeg, and crew chief Roy Simmons. We’re just trying to feed off what we have been doing well and see if we couldn’t improve and do a little better on Sundays. Today is a great answer to our efforts, and hopefully just the start of a great remainder of the spring and go into the summer strong and see if we can’t come down to the Countdown to 1 in good health and make a great run for a Full Throttle championship.”

The younger Coughlin believes this win will be a springboard for the future, and exorcise the demons that have been haunting his team recently.

“This is all nuts and bolts and personalities that work on these things, and I think we’ve worked through the issues we have had with our car,” Coughlin said. “We had almost national record type speed (212.23 mph) in qualifying and that’s something in my career in Pro Stock that has been short on my list. We set the national record one time, but we seem like we’re right toward the front of the pack, but never at the front as the leading car. We’ve got a car and proven it to ourselves. The engine development over the winter has definitely improved, and it looks like our at-race setups are starting to improve. I think we can challenge these guys week-in, and week out.”