NHRA: Team JEG'S Continues To Improve
16 April 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
What a change that a week makes, the NHRA teams have gone from mountains to the gulf coast. The engines inside of the "factory hotrods" create more horsepower when there is additional air, unlike what the class experienced in Las Vegas last week. The closer a track is to sea-level the better the air is and the quicker the Pro Stock cars run.
Troy Coughlin rolled into the right lane for his first qualifying session of the weekend. The JEG'S machine launched from the starting line and favored the right side of the lane. The car did not efficiently use it's power as it headed down the track. The car moved around down track and Troy wisely shut off.
"Our set up and the track didn't work well together in the first session." Troy noted, "Our team has a wealth of data on this track and we will use the data from my brothers first run to help out my car."
NHRA points leader Jeg Coughlin, Jr. and his yellow and black JEG'S Mail Order Olds Cutlass took on the left lane during the first session. This is a track where Jeg has done well at in the past. In fact, Coughlin won his first professional victory in Pro Stock in only his second time behind the wheel here in '97 during the fall race.
The JEG'S machine took on the left lane. The car launched from the starting line while the car searched for optimum traction to plant the Maskin/DART Machinery horsepower to the track. Jeg drove to the center of the groove and continued his quest to the finishline. Jeg ran a 6.921 at 198.90 Mph and ended up in the No. 5 slot after the first of four qualifying sessions.
"We have some room to improve and we gained some valuable data on our first pass." Jeg continued, "We will fine tune from here and be ready for the night session, which should be very good and move us closer to the top of the page."
Troy was on the outside looking in when the second qualifying session began. The yellow and black JEG'S machine lined up in the left lane. The car blasted out of the starting line beams and darted down the middle of the groove. Troy ran a 6.900 at 198.35 Mph and rocketed up to the No. 6 position.
"That was much better!" Troy noted, "We moved up to the top half of the field and will work on improving from here tomorrow."
Jeg entered the second session wanting to improve and move closer to the top of the page. Jeg rolled in to the right lane. The car launched and rocketed down the center of the groove on its journey to the big end. Jeg and the men in yellow and black throw an impressive 6.889 at 199.26 Mph up on the board. Jegster marches up to the No. 2 spot and will have two chances tomorrow to grab the top spot.
"That was a solid run and we are going in the right direction." Jeg continued to talk about the run, "The car hooked up well with the track and everyone did their job. We will continue to fine tune from here and work on grabbing the No. 1 spot and perfect our set up for raceday tomorrow."
Text provided by Scott Woodruff
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