AFTER LONGEST HIATUS OF HIS CAREER, TROY COUGHLIN READY TO RACE
Wed, 2008-07-30 09:00
It will have been exactly 100 days since Pro Modified racer Troy Coughlin has
made a quarter-mile pass when he slips behind the wheel of his brand-new,
2,500-horsepower JEGS.com Camaro Aug. 6 for a scheduled test session at
Darlington Dragway. A 25-year drag racing veteran, Coughlin has never been out
of a car for this long, so he's understandably excited and just a tad
anxious.
"This is the longest I've ever gone without racing something," Coughlin
said. "I've always filled the gaps with bracket races or some sort of sportsman
activity. It's just the way I'm wired, I guess; I love the competition."
Coughlin's lengthy absence from the racing scene was brought on by an
unfortunate accident April 27 at the Southern NHRA Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
Coughlin's GTO got out-of-shape early in his first-round race against Tony
Pontieri and he ended up making hard contact with the right-side retaining wall
before drifting over and hitting the left side wall as well. Fortunately,
Coughlin wasn't hurt, but his car was totaled.
Anxious to get back on track, Coughlin was able to buy a brand-new '68
Camaro built by Tommy Mauney of TM Race Cars. The car originally was intended
for Outlaw racer Danny Blakenship, but an increased work schedule forced
Blakenship to trim back his racing endeavors and he was willing to sell his new
ride to Coughlin.
"It's a beautiful racecar," Coughlin said. "It was literally straight out
of Tommy's shop when we got it so we had a lot of work to do to get it
race-ready. The initial feeling was to hustle it through and get back in time
for Englishtown (June 19-22), but the more we thought about it the more we
decided to take our time and wait for Indy.
"This break has given us the time to freshen all of our motors and really
make this Camaro perfect from front to back. It's going to be fun to debut it at
the biggest race of the year and we're expecting it to be very competitive from
the start. All of Tommy's cars that came off same mold as this one are great
pieces and ours should be too."
To make sure his Darlington test is a success, Coughlin will bring along
his father, Jeg Coughlin Sr., and Mauney himself. "That way we'll be covered,"
he said. The group plans to make a minimum of five full passes but will stay as
long as necessary to get any potential bugs worked out before heading to the
U.S. Nationals in Indy.
"I've done everything I can do to prepare myself for my return," Coughlin
said. "I've been exercising and stretching to be the best driver I can be. We've
built this car will all of the latest safety features and I know I have a great
team around me.
"Having taken so much time off, we know we probably won't challenge for the
JEGS ProMod Challenge championship this year but there are four races left on
the schedule and we plan on contending for the trophy at all four of
them."
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