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NHRA: Team JEG'S Is Improving With Each Run

22 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The Pro Stock Truck class was the first professional class to begin qualifying for the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals, tomorrow the remaining professional classes will begin their qualifying. A total of thirty-eight Pro Stock Truck will battle for the sixteen available qualifying positions.

The weather conditions proved to be desirable for the naturally aspirated small block engines. The sky was blue as the sun beat down on the racing surface all day.

John Coughlin and his #31 JEG'S Mail Order S-10 took on the right lane in the first of four scheduled qualifying sessions. A good amount of trucks ahead of John moved around down track in the right lane. The team made a decision to add more down force to the rear to help traction. The truck took off from the starting line and headed straight down the middle of the groove. The truck made a small move when it went into third gear, but recovered quickly.

John commented, "We did not make as good of a run in the first session as we would have liked. However, we did make a full pass and we gained important data that will help us throughout the weekend." John landed in the number twenty slot after the first qualifying session.

The #28 JEG'S S-10 machine lined up in the left lane in the first session. Mike charged out of the starting line beams and took off like a rocket toward the finishline. The truck never left the center of the groove on it's journey to the big end.

Mike ended up in the number eleven spot after his first qualifying attempt. Mike stated, "We have a great baseline to work from and we will fine tune the setup from here."

During the second qualifying session John pulled into the left lane. The yellow and black JEG'S Mail Order machine staged slowly. He launched from the starting line with the front end off of the ground slightly. The truck took off and favored the right side of the groove down track.

John improved his qualifying time and moved up to the number eighteen spot, he was bumped out of the field by the last two trucks down the race track. Coughlin noted, "The data that we generated in the first session really helped us to zero in on a good setup for the track and weather conditions. We still have more left under the hood, which is a good position to be in."

Mike took on the right lane during the second qualifying session in his JEG'S Mail Order entry. He left the starting line and headed down the track. The truck favored the left side of the groove, Mike drove back into the middle of the groove by the time he got to half track.

Mike said, "We made a much better run during the second session. The JEG'S machine responded very well to the setup, I think that we are on target this weekend." Mike marched up to the number five position.

The weather conditions are expected to improve for tomorrow by ten degrees, which will make a big difference when the qualifying resumes.

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