Shane Gray laid another brick in the foundation of his rookie-of-the-year campaign at the Lucas Oil Nationals. However, Jeg Coughlin sent out another notice Sunday to the Pro Stock class at Brainerd International Raceway - he wants a fifth championship.
 
Coughlin, taking his Victor Cagnazzi-owned JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a third straight final round, posted a 6.614-second elapsed time at 208.04 mph to claim his fourth victory of the season when Gray jumped the gun by a mere one-thousandth of a second in the Tire Kingdom Pontiac GXP, lighting the red light for himself and the win light for Coughlin.

Gray's official numbers were 6.654 / 207.21.
 
“I feel a bit fortunate,” Coughlin said, “because we barely made it up there for the finals. I heard something odd with the motor in the semis, and that engine is probably our best. So, we didn't want to damage it. The guys thrashed and put our No. 3 motor in there for the final and we used up every bit of that 75 minutes between rounds to get up there and race Shane.”
 
He got his break when Gray red-lit. And he knew it.

Shane Gray laid another brick in the foundation of his rookie-of-the-year campaign at the Lucas Oil Nationals. However, Jeg Coughlin sent out another notice Sunday to the Pro Stock class at Brainerd International Raceway - he wants a fifth championship.
 
Coughlin, taking his Victor Cagnazzi-owned JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a third straight final round, posted a 6.614-second elapsed time at 208.04 mph to claim his fourth victory of the season when Gray jumped the gun by a mere one-thousandth of a second in the Tire Kingdom Pontiac GXP, lighting the red light for himself and the win light for Coughlin.

Gray's official numbers were 6.654 / 207.21.
 
“I feel a bit fortunate,” Coughlin said, “because we barely made it up there for the finals. I heard something odd with the motor in the semis, and that engine is probably our best. So, we didn't want to damage it. The guys thrashed and put our No. 3 motor in there for the final and we used up every bit of that 75 minutes between rounds to get up there and race Shane.”
 
He got his break when Gray red-lit. And he knew it.

“I do want to say that the Grays have done a phenomenal job this year,” Coughlin said. “And if Shane had been a couple thousands on the green side of the tree, he would have put away my yellow and black car, because I was dead late. Those are good guys over there, and they'll win plenty of races, I'm sure.”
 
This was Coughlin’s fourth victory on the BIR quarter-mile. He also won here in 1999, 2002, and 2007 and was runner-up in 2000. In addition, He left the North Woods with a Super Stock “Wally” in 1997.
 
“The mode we're in right now is to keep this momentum ...  on into the Countdown to 1 playoffs,” Coughlin said. “The U.S. Nationals in Indy, the granddaddy of all drag races, is always a big event and this year, for the first time ever, it's the start of our playoffs.
 
“We came here off a great Western Swing, where we won in Sonoma and followed that up with a strong runner-up finish in Denver,” he said. “We were sky high and certainly thought we'd have more success with a brand-new engine from the shop. But after struggling a bit in qualifying and then analyzing all the data, we decided to go back to the motor we had in Sonoma and, boom that thing took us right to the top.
 
“We're now the closest we've been to the points leader all year. That's the way the Countdown goes. It's worked in our favor before and last year it worked against us. This year we probably wouldn't have had a chance to run for our sixth overall world title but now we will. So that's really exciting,” Coughlin said.
 
All that, he said, made it “imperative to use Brainerd as a springboard into those final six races. We want the championship back.”
 
He said his Roy Simmons-led team, not to mention his Cobalt, enjoys the sea-level tracks. That, Coughlin said, is “where we tend to run at our best. The [previous] race at sea level was Sonoma, and we won. Then we changed the entire car around for the Mile-High Nationals in Denver and still managed to make it to the finals. Now we're back down at sea level and ready to rock and roll.”
 
Silent or stumbling uncharacteristically for the past few weeks has been class leader Mike Edwards, the No. 1 qualifier who lost on a holeshot in the opening round Sunday to No. 16 Rodger Brogdon. Even in his losing effort, Edwards had the quickest and fastest run of the weekend (6.593-second E.T., 209.04 mph), so no one is counting him out, by any means - certainly not Coughlin.
 
“I'm expecting all the top teams to step it up down the stretch, including Mike Edwards,” Sunday‘s winner said. “He's too good of a driver and that's too good of a team for them to stay down for long. But he's not the only one we've got to worry about. There are several teams capable of going the distance.
 
“We'll just stick to our game plan and run the car the way we know how to run it and see how it all shakes out. I like our chances,” Coughlin said, adding, “We'll need to keep those wins coming if we want to have a chance at the title.”
 
For Gray, who improved from eighth place to sixth, Sunday’s performance was delicious.
 
He had said Saturday night, “If we’re really, really lucky maybe we could win the race.  We are so fortunate to have done as well and gotten as far as we have. So I’m not going to be greedy. If we do well and move up in points, it will just be icing on the cake.”
 
Buttercream? Chocolate? His call. He said he simply appreciates the calls that his team has made all season.
 
“Jim and Jon Yates have figured out what the car needs for the conditions and all the guy are doing a great job making the cars work. I’m the lucky one that gets to get behind the wheel and take it down the track,” he said after testing at Martin, Mich., on the way to BIR.
 
Said Gray, “Back in February, I was hoping to just qualify at half the races. So to be in the position we are now is fantastic. And making the Countdown was something you didn’t even talk or think about at that time. And now it’s here and it’s real. This is truly amazing and some of the most fun I’ve ever had.”
 
He said he considered this Brainerd race “the beginning of a new part of my year. I’m so lucky to have made the Countdown and by doing so, it’s taken some pressure off me. As far as I’m concerned, when we made the Countdown, we more than exceeded the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of this year. We were focused so intensely on getting in the playoffs for so many weeks, that now I’m not worried about anything. Going into the Countdown, I have everything to gain and nothing to lose because I’m not even supposed to be there. I’m anxious to get in the Big O Tires car and have some fun.”