CRA All Stars - Cody Coughlin Fired-up And Ready

JEFFERSON, April 5, 2012: Fresh off his success in the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing event, Cody Coughlin and the rejuvenated JEGS.com Chevrolet team are ready for a new challenge in this weekend's Beau Slocumb Memorial Pro Late Model race at Gresham Motorsports Park.

Bolstered by championship crew chief Butch VanDoorn, Coughlin won two poles, qualified second twice and posted two top-five and three top-10 finishes during February's World Series at New Smyrna Speedway.

As the team builds for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour season-opener later this month, Coughlin will drive his No. 1 JEGS.com Chevrolet – with a new paint scheme – in the Beau Slocumb Memorial special event this weekend.

The race is unique, as it is comprised of three segments totaling 208 laps. That distance is longer than most raced in which the 16-year-old Coughlin has competed, though he is ready for the new challenge.

"I'm excited to go to Gresham Motorsports Park for the first time," Coughlin said. "I heard it's fast and has lots of grip, so should be a great race.

"It will be a new challenge for me being 208 laps, as it is a much longer race than I am accustomed to. I'm excited for the longer race and to see what new challenges that brings."

In the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, where Coughlin won the Howie Lettow Rookie of the Year award last year, most races are 100 laps long. And in the recent World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing in Florida, the Pro Late Model races were 25 laps in length.

But the Slocumb Memorial is split into three segments at the half-mile Gresham track: 100 laps, 75 laps and 33 laps.

The winner of the first segment wins $2,500, with $3,000 to the winner of the second and $4,500 to the winner of the final leg. If a driver can win all three segments, he will receive $10,000.

"We're excited to go back to Gresham Motorsports Park," said VanDoorn, who won the last three JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour championships as a crew chief. "I've had some success there in the past. This will be my first time going there with Cody, so it will be a fun deal.

"We are looking to continue building off of our solid runs at New Smyrna over the winter. The guys did a great job at the shop and we have a great race car to bring down to Gresham."

The Beau Slocumb Memorial is a two-day show, with Pro Late Model practice Friday afternoon and again Saturday morning. Qualifying is slated for 3:45 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, with the Pro Late Model feature last on the schedule Saturday night.

As Coughlin, whose family has raced successfully in drag racing for many years, continues to blaze a new trail in oval-track racing, he will be supported by his family: father John, mother Di, and his biggest cheerleader, younger sister Kennedi.

"New challenges bring new opportunities," Cody Coughlin said. "I'm thankful God has given me these opportunities, and we're going to do our best to praise him with the race we race. I couldn't do this without my family."