Coughlin's opening pass places earns a spot in Dallas field

DALLAS, TX., Sept. 19, 2008 - JEGS.com Pro Mod racer Troy Coughlin posted a steady 6.186 at 233.88 mph Friday afternoon at the Texas Motorplex to earn the No. 11 spot in Day 1 qualifying at the 23rd annual Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals.

It was a decent start for the veteran racer, but he left the racetrack wondering what could have been after a malfunction spoiled what looked to be a much better run under the Friday night lights.

"We were motoring down through there in Round 2 but I couldn't get the car into high gear," Coughlin said. "We would have posted a 6.03 or a 6.04 at the worst, so we would have been up near the top of the ladder, but something went wrong.

"At this point we're still investigating what happened. I don't know if I made a mistake or if something broke. We'll have to exam the onboard computer data and see what it shows us. It just didn't feel right, almost like it hit the high side of the two-step."

A 6.03 would have placed Coughlin in the top half of the ladder in the No. 6 slot. He'll have one more chance to earn a coveted top-half spot in the third and final round of qualifying at 11 a.m. Then it's on to eliminations, which begin at 4:30 p.m.

"Well, first of all we're in the show, which is always the first priority," Coughlin said. "And we know we have a car that's capable of going very fast. We just need to fix this problem, and it is a fixable problem for sure.

"That final round of qualifying should be the quickest session of the weekend for our class. Hopefully, it's still a little cool at 11 a.m. and we'll be able to get after it."