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NHRA: Troy Coughlin Makes It To The Semifinals And Moves Into 7th

26 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

First Round Claims Jeg Coughlin

The weather continued to improve as the weekend went on. The conditions that the Pro Stock cars had for raceday were near perfect conditions. The air was cool and the sky's above were blue.

With only twelve competition rounds remaining in the '99 NHRA season for Pro Stock the points are getting tighter with each round. Jeg came into the event sitting in the number three spot in a battle with Kurt Johnson for the number two position in the NHRA Winston Championship. Troy Coughlin enter the O'Reilly Fall Nationals tied in the number seven spot with Mark Pawuk, Coughlin out qualified Pawuk.

Jeg went head-to-head against John Nobile, Coughlin and his JEG'S Mail Order machine took the left lane. The car launched from the starting line and drove toward the center stripe. The right side of the car was out of the groove, which caused the car to spin as it searched for traction. Jeg stayed with it until the car started to move aggressively from side-to-side, he was forced to shut off.

Jeg Coughlin explained, "The car took off to the right almost immediately. When the rear right tire got out of the groove the tires started spinning. The lack of traction and the car wanting to go to the right made it difficult to get the car back to the center of the groove."

Coughlin continued, "We will go through this car with a fine tooth comb before we run in Houston and we will be ready to win next weekend."

Troy lined up next to Kurt Johnson in the first round. Coughlin was in the right lane with his JEG'S Mail Order Olds Cutlass. Both drivers had a lot riding on this race. Pawuk lost in front of Troy so winning the round would put him ahead in the Winston points. Troy also wanted to take out Kurt so that he would not gain any ground on his brother Jeg, who is trying to pass Kurt Johnson for the number two position.

The two cars turned the pre-stage lights on together. Kurt rolled in and Troy paused for a noticeable amount of time. The reaction time advantage went to Kurt. Troy stayed planted to the right lane as Kurt got out of shape in the left lane and was forced to shut off.

Troy took the win light along with lane choice for the second round. Coughlin commented, "The car made a good run, but there is still room to improve. I did what I set out to do and that was to have lane choice for the next round."

The yellow and black JEG'S Mail Order machine faced off against Darrell Alderman, Troy had lane choice and took the left lane. Alderman and his Mopar machine got the jump off of the line on Troy. The yellow and black JEG'S car with the DART Machinery/Maskin horsepower under the hood came on strong down track.

Coughlin takes the win light to move further ahead of Mark Pawuk in the points and closer to Mike Edwards who holds the number six spot. Troy said, "We made another good run and we are picking up more valuable NHRA Winston points. The car went straight down the middle of the groove like it should."

The semifinal round put Troy Coughlin and Warren Johnson on the battle field together with the same thing in mind; going to the finial round. WJ took the left lane. The two cars rolled into the pre-stage beams together, both cars paused. WJ puts his stage light on first and Troy slowly moves in.

Warren Johnson took a slight advantage off of the startingline. The two cars had identical 1/8 mile times. Both cars raced side-by-side as they rocketed toward the finishline.

Troy stayed glued to the center of the groove, but the win light came on for Warren. The true margin of victory was .026 seconds. Troy commented, "That was a great race, both cars made good runs." Troy made his best run of the weekend during this classic match-up.

Coughlin continued, "We passed Pawuk in the points and we gained ground on Mike Edwards, things are going to get really fun fom now until the end of the season." Troy now sits in the number seven position in the Winston Championship points and within striking distance of the number six spot.

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