Troy Coughlin Edged Out Despite Posting His Best Pass Of The Race

ATLANTA, May 16, 2010: A terrific weekend of racing for JEGS.com Pro Mod driver Troy Coughlin ended in the quarterfinals Sunday at Atlanta Dragway when top qualifier Mike Janis beat him by .02 seconds. Nevertheless, the veteran world champion from Delaware, Ohio -- one of just two drivers in the class to have qualified for every race this year -- will improve his standing in the Get Screened America Drag Racing Series.

"We made some pretty big strides this weekend as a team and we continue to gel together as a group," Coughlin said. "Dang, this (loss) was tough because we'd run so well yesterday and the guys had worked so hard to get us ready for this round. Mike just had a great pass and he beat us."

The No. 8 qualifier with a best of 5.999 during time trials, Coughlin beat first-round opponent Dennis Radford in Saturday evening's opening round of eliminations with a 6.014 at 236.63 mph. His crew managed to find some extra horsepower overnight and Coughlin was able to improve to a weekend-best 5.988 at 235.68 mph against Janis. But Janis answered with a 5.958 at 241.45 mph to get the win.

"It wasn't for a lack of effort from the JEGS.com team," said Coughlin, the reigning world champion in NMCA Pro Street competition. "These guys are the best in the business and they always manage to give me an awesome racecar.

"NHRA is supposed to evaluate the Pro Mod class after this race in regards to the power advantage the blown cars have over the nitrous cars. I think we're about as maxed out as we can get with our nitrous set-up and the supercharged guys still have five hundredths on us at the very least. I'm not sure what they'll do to level it out but we're confident the right choices will be made."

The next Pro Mod race takes place June 10-13 during the 41st annual United Association NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.