COUGHLIN'S NEW APPROACH TO TOP SPORTSMAN
Wed, 2007-04-11 08:55
After winning the Top Sportsman title at the JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals
last season, Mike Coughlin probably didn’t need to make wholesale changes to his
JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt, this winter, but he just couldn’t help himself. Armed
with a new engine that he hopes will put the car deep into the six-second range,
Coughlin is hoping to be among the top qualifiers in the 32-car Dart Top
Sportsman class as he heads to O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis for this
week’s NHRA Division 3 Lucas Oil Series opener.
“Last year was my first year in Top Sportsman and we had a lot of fun and
we also learned a lot,” said Coughlin. “My car was certainly competitive, but we
really thought that we could become even more competitive by making the car
quicker so that’s why we decided on a new engine program. In this class, you
just can’t sit still. You have to keep moving forward so hopefully this move
will help move us to the head of the class.”
The new engine is a 790-cubic inch “mountain motor” from Sonny Leonard and
it is equipped with a Big Stuff III fuel injection system from John Meany. The
combination is similar to the one Coughlin’s older brother, Troy ran in his Pro
Street Cavalier last season. That car posted consistent 6.5-second runs at over
210-mph.
“I’ve never been that fast before so I’m really excited about the start of
the new season,” Coughlin continued. “I’m not racing in Super Comp at all this
year because I want to concentrate solely on Top Sportsman. Hopefully we can
pick up where we left off in 2006.”
The Dart Top Sportsman Series will consist of nine events in the North
Central Division. In addition to the opener at O’Reilly Raceway Park at
Indianapolis, the series will make stops in Stanton, Mich.; Joliet, Ill;
Madison, Ill; Bowling Green, Ky.; Columbus, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky.
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