Troy Coughlin maintained his qualifying lead Saturday in the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. This weekend’s Pro Mod racing at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis is presented by JEGS. This is the seventh of 10 Pro Mod events on the 2016 season.

The reigning and two-time world champion Coughlin powered his late model JEGS.com Chevy Corvette to a 5.773-second pass at 254.76 mph to take the qualifying lead on Friday night. No one in the category was able to better his time on Saturday. Coughlin won the fourth event of the year at Englishtown, N.J., in June. He has two No. 1 qualifiers in his career.

"It's pretty exciting to maintain our No. 1 qualifying spot, as tight as the field's getting and as competitive as this class is getting as a whole,” said Coughlin. “Being the No. 1 qualifier at Indy, at the Big Go, it's exciting for all of us back at JEGS.com and all the guys in the shop. All the races are big, but this – this is Indy. We're pretty fired up."

Von Smith is second with a 5.800 at 247.47 in his late model Al-Anabi Racing Chevy Corvette. He was second Friday night as well but improved on his time by two-hundredths of a second. Smith won the Pro Mod world championship in 2010.

Mike Bowman jumped up to the third spot Saturday by posting a 5.821 at 255.39 in his Coburn Equipment ’69 Chevy Chevelle.

Michael Biehle II sits in fourth and is followed by Billy Glidden in fifth and 2011 Pro Mod champ Khalid alBalooshi in sixth.

Justin “Big Chief” Shearer, star of the Street Outlaws television show, continued his quest to qualify for his first event as a licensed NHRA racer. He is currently 30th with a 6.364 at 226.32 in his ’68 Firebird.

The final qualifying session for the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals will be held Sunday at 1:45 p.m. before the first round of eliminations at 5:30 p.m.

 
Saturday's results after the first three of four rounds of qualifying for the 62nd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis, seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.  Qualifying will continue Sunday for first round of eliminations.
 

Pro Modified -- 1. Troy Coughlin, Chevy Corvette, 5.773, 254.76; 2. Von Smith, Corvette, 5.800, 247.47; 3. Michael Bowman, Chevelle, 5.821, 256.89; 4. Michael Biehle, Ford Mustang, 5.829, 253.71; 5. Bill Glidden, Chevy Camaro, 5.838, 254.62; 6. Khalid alBalooshi, Camaro, 5.853, 247.25; 7. Eric Latino, Camaro, 5.859, 247.70; 8. Bob Rahaim, Corvette, 5.861, 246.57; 9. Mike Janis, Camaro, 5.863, 245.09; 10. Jim Whiteley, Chevy Chevelle, 5.866, 246.12; 11. Mike Castellana, Corvette, 5.868, 243.99; 12. Chip King, Dodge Charger, 5.873, 244.69; 13. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.887, 247.84; 14. Doug Winters, Chevelle, 5.890, 243.11; 15. Steven Whiteley, Cadillac CTS-V, 5.892, 244.92; 16. Steve Matusek, Camaro, 5.895, 247.84.  Not Qualified: 17. Danny Rowe, 5.895, 246.62; 18. Jay Payne, 5.917, 245.36; 19. Todd Tutterow, 5.933, 246.30; 20. Jonathan Gray, 5.934, 250.60; 21. Dan Stevenson, 5.945, 248.84; 22. Kevin Rivenbark, 5.954, 239.87; 23. Shane Molinari, 5.964, 249.30; 24. Mike Knowles, 5.968, 241.84; 25. Robert Patrick Jr., 5.981, 239.87; 26. Harold Martin, 5.987, 241.11; 27. Jim Bell, 6.034, 225.63; 28. Gerry Capano, 6.079, 235.97; 29. Sidnei Frigo, 6.318, 169.02; 30. Justin Shearer, 6.364, 226.32; 31. Clint Satterfield, 6.594, 234.25; 32. Chuck Little, 7.545, 132.62; 33. Ruben Tetsoshvili, 7.631, 120.80.