Cody Coughlin Enjoys View From The Front Pack

NEW SYMRNA, Feb. 17, 2011: Upstart Late Model Stock Car racer Cody Coughlin had his best run to date Wednesday night at New Smyrna Speedway, running more than half of the Crate Late Model class race in the top five before being slightly caught up in a wreck and eventually finishing mid-pack in the 25-lap event.

"We were running strong," said the 15-year-old nephew of five-time drag racing world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. "There were two or three restarts where I was in Row 3 and that was pretty exciting. I can't wait to put it all together and get up front again.

"There wasn't much I could do about the wreck that slowed me down. I was on the outside and some cars started stacking up in front of me. There was a car on the inside so I couldn't go low and there wasn't enough room up top so I got into the wall a little bit. The JEGS.com Impala really wasn't damaged that much but the front right tire was going down so I had to pit. Up until then it was a great run."

Cody will complete the 45th running of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing with one more dash Friday night. Then it's off to the Daytona 500 to watch his idols race for NASCAR's biggest prize.