Jeg Coughlin finishes in semis with highlight reel race (NHRA/JEG'S)

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
NHRA CarQuest  Northwest Nationals   
 
 
 
Pacific Raceways
Seattle, WA
July 24th
 
Jeg Coughlin - JEG'S Mail  Order / Mopar - Dodge Stratus RT 
Race Day Summary




 
Jeg Coughlin finishes in semis with highlight reel  race

In a race that's sure to make the highlights reels  across the country, Jeg 
Coughlin and his Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T lost  in the semifinal 
round of the 18th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals by  three-thousandths 
of a second to fellow Ohioan Ron Krisher, who had a  spectacular accident just 
past the finish line. 

Krisher crossed the line  two feet ahead of Coughlin after a big holeshot win 
with a an elapsed time of  6.727 seconds to Coughlin's 6.724-second effort. 
But before he had time to  celebrate Krisher's racecar turned violently to the 
left, hit the retaining  wall, and slid several hundred feet on its' right 
side before coming to a rest  in the middle of the racetrack. Krisher was unhurt 
in the incident and the  wreckage did not affect Coughlin.

Aside from the accident, it was a great  day for Coughlin, who doubled his 
number of semifinal appearances for the year.  He passed teammate Richie Stevens 
to take over sixth place in the POWERade  standings before Krisher passed 
them both with his win over Coughlin to move  Jeggy back into seventh place by 
just nine points.

"Thank goodness Ron is  okay," Coughlin said. "I just caught a flash of 
something bad happening over  there and I knew the best thing I could do was 
continue on and get out of the  way. He ran a great race against us and I'm sure 
he's disappointed that he  couldn't make it back up there to run for the trophy."

Coughlin opened  the day with an easy win over Larry Morgan, who left the 
starting line early and  was disqualified with a -.001 second red-light. It was a 
fortunate twist of fate  for Coughlin as the two men posted nearly identical 
elapsed times    6.723 for Coughlin and 6.724 for Morgan.

"It was extremely close,"  Coughlin admitted. "I'm lucky he red-lighted 
because my light [reaction time]  wasn't very good that round (.051 seconds). Even 
if we'd left at exactly the  same time I would have only one by an inch or 
two. It's satisfying to come out  on the good side of those kinds of races, 
especially after being on the wrong  end a few times."

The three-time series champion atoned for his mediocre  start in the 
quarterfinals when he shot off the line well ahead of two-time  series champion Jim 
Yates by a .017- to .054-second margin. The rest of the race  was academic as 
Coughlin slowly added distance to his advantage before taking  the win with a 
6.741 to Yates' 6.774.

"It seems like every race Jim and I  have had this year has been decided by a 
few thousandths of a second," Coughlin  said. "He's always so tough to beat. 
That put us in the semifinals so the day  was made right there. The rest of 
the action was a bonus."

Coughlin will  try to move further up the ladder in a few days with the 18th 
annual  Fram-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.



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