The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Coughlin looking for third Las Vegas title in a row, sixth overall (NHRA/JEGS)

Coughlin looking for third Las Vegas title in a row, sixth  overall

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 23) -- Reigning back-to-back Pro Stock  champion Jeg 
Coughlin Jr. admits his chances for capturing three world titles in  a row is all 
but over, but the 61-time national event winner can still post  another 
"threepeat" at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway should he manage to  win 
the upcoming Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

Coughlin has driven his  JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt to back-to-back 
victories in Vegas, winning last  October's event and the one earlier this year in 
April. Overall, he has five  national event wins at The Strip, making it one 
of his favorite stops on  tour.

"Vegas has been exceptionally good to us, without question," the  
39-year-old said. "I just feel relaxed there. It's a great track and the city is  a 
lot of fun.

"We really need a rebound race so I'm glad we're heading to  a track where 
we've had a lot of success in the past. We've had a rough  Countdown. I feel 
as though we've made some uncharacteristic errors and they've  cost us."

After posting seven national event victories and leading the  regular 
season points for an NHRA-best 14 races with no first-round losses,  Coughlin and 
crew have inexplicably fallen off since the Countdown to 1 playoff  began. 
In three of the first four races, Coughlin has failed to race past Round  1, 
all but extinguishing his hopes for another title.

"We're out of  running for first Full Throttle championship, which is 
disappointing, especially  since this is the first year with Full Throttle as the 
series' sponsor," he  said. "So now we'll just try to finish as high as we 
can and set the ball in  motion for next year. 

"We need to find the consistency we had earlier  this year so we're going 
to use the days leading into Vegas to test the car over  in Tucson. We need 
to take a step back and see what we can do to fix this  thing.

"The exciting thing is we have all the pieces in place here to  challenge 
for the 2010 title, and quite frankly for the trophies at these last  two 
races. Nothing has changed on the team; we're still the same group of people  
that won the last two world titles. It just didn't go our way this season 
during  a very crucial stretch of events. That's drag  racing."

--30--


Information regarding JEGS Mail Order can be found at _www.jegs.com_ 
(http://www.jegs.com/)  and for  media/fan resources checkout _www.teamjegs.com_ 
(http://www.teamjegs.com/) .  

Media Contact:
Scott "Woody" Woodruff
JEGS, Director of  Media & Motorsports
Office: 800.345.4545 (3.412)
Mobile:  614.595.1820
Fax: 740.362.4385
Email: _jegspr@aol.com_ (mailto:jegspr@aol.com)  -or- 
_scott.woodruff@jegs.com_ (mailto:scott.woodruff@jegs.com)