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Coughlin family readies for busy weekend in Columbus

After a brief hiatus, brothers John and Mike Coughlin will return to the track for this weekend’s North Central Division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at the team’s home track, National Trail Raceway just outside of Columbus, Ohio. As usual, John will be doing double duty, racing in the Top Dragster class and in Super Stock with his JEGS Mail Order Chevy Cobalt. Mike will be racing his 200-mph JEGS.com Cobalt in the Top Sportsman class.

The Columbus event will also feature the re-scheduled final eliminations from the Norwalk, Ohio Lucas Oil Series event that was postponed from mid-May after just one round of eliminations was completed. John is still in competition in Super Stock and Top Dragster and Mike also won his first round match in Top Sportsman.

And, as if the Coughlin camp wasn’t busy enough with two races to run, John and Mike will be joined this weekend by their nephew, 18-year-old Troy Jr., who will be making his debut in the Super Comp class.

“We certainly do have a got a lot going on this weekend but it should be a lot of fun,” said John. “We’re especially looking forward to watching Troy Jr. He’s a lot like the rest of the Coughlin family; he grew up around racing and this is all he’s wanted to do his whole life. I believe he’s going to catch on very quickly and he has done a great job testing. His father, [Troy Sr.] will be there to help him and obviously, Mike and I and the rest of the team will be there for him as well. He’s going to be just fine.”

John, the reigning North Central Division Top Dragster Series champion, is currently ranked 19th in that class primarily because he’s competed in just two events thus far. John is also ranked ninth in Super Stock following his win at the Indianapolis event in late April.

“We’ve been off the tour for a while but there is still time to catch up,” John said. “I’m still in with both cars from the Norwalk race so that’s four chances for a victory. If we have a strong showing this weekend, we will be right in the thick of things heading into the last half of the season. I’m especially excited about racing in Top Dragster. We recently tested my car and we were able to gather a lot of valuable data. Since I made a lot of runs in testing I don’t think I’ll be rusty, either.”

Mike Coughlin has competed in just two Top Sportsman events this year, but he is also in a strong position to defend his series title as he was able to bank a victory at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Currently ranked third, Mike could reclaim the lead with a strong showing in Columbus.

“This is my home track and historically I’ve had a lot of success here,” said Mike. “The last time we ran my car was at Norwalk and it was almost perfect. We were on a pretty good roll when we started racing. Hopefully, we can keep that momentum going this weekend.”