Phillips Scores Twice As JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals Concludes

BELLE ROSE, La. march 23, 2009: Tommy Phillips of Forney, Texas accomplished a rare feat by winning the Super Comp and Super Gas titles during this weekend’s sixth annual JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals, held at No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, La. Phillips drove his Chevy Corvette to a final round win over former NHRA national champion Sherman Adcock in the Super Gas final and then returned to the starting line in his Tigerflow dragster a few moments later to finish the sweep by beating Scooter Choate for the Super Comp title.

In addition to Phillips the other winners crowned on Sunday were Kevin Self (Comp), Brad Zaskowski (Super Stock), Austin Williams (Stock), Mike DeSio (Super Street), Casey Spradlin (Top Dragster), Jeffrey Barker (Top Sportsman) and Alex Barmettler (Sportsman Motorcycle).

Self, of Caddo, Okla., successfully defended his 2008 JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals title, driving his ’32 Bantam roadster past to a win over Joey Tanksley in the final round.

The Super Stock final featured another repeat champion as Zaskowski, of Belmont, Mich., also won in Belle Rose in 2007. In the final, Zaskowski drove his Chevy Camaro to a win over Allen Patterson. In Stock, Williams, of Burleson, Texas, got the best of three-time world champion Dan Fletcher in the final round.

Reigning Southeast Division champion DeSio of Seminole, Fla., earned the trophy in the Super Street class when he slipped by Paul Martinez in the final round and Barmettler, of Maplewood, Minn., rode to the Sportsman Motorcycle class title by beating local racer David Latino of Donaldsonville, La.

Some of the best side-by-side racing of the weekend was found in the Top Dragster and Top Sportsman classes, which each featured record bump spots for the 32-car qualified fields. Spradlin, of Ranburne, Ala., ran deep into the six-second zone all weekend including a 6.81 elapsed time in the final round against Thomas Levatino.

In Top Sportsman, Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin drove to the final round of a JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals event for the fifth time in the last six years, but had to settle for a runner-up finish after losing a close racer against Barker, the reigning Division 2 champion, who hails from Warner Robins, Ga.

“Obviously, it would have been great to get another win here in Belle Rose, but we came up a little short today,” said Coughlin. “This was my first race of the season so it would be hard to complain about a runner-up finish. My JEGS.com Cobalt ran flawlessly all weekend. I’m not sure if this will be my last race in Top Sportsman but if it is, it was a great way to go out. I have been a big fan of these [SPORTSnationals] races since the beginning and I’m already looking forward to the next one.”

Coughlin has already announced plans to compete in the Top Dragster class this season and he is expecting to make his debut shortly.

The JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals attracted a record field of nearly 600 competitors from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. The next SPORTSnationals race will be the JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals at Auto Club Dragway at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., April 17-19. The JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals will be held at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 25-27.