NHRA: Jeg and Troy Coughlin will battle from opposite sides to meet in the final

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Troy was moved up one position after the NHRA tech department disqualified a car from competition. During the third session Troy and his yellow and black Jeg's Oldsmobile Cutlass ran a 6.979 at 197.83 mph.

"We made an engine change last night before putting the Jeg's machine to bed for the night," said Troy. "We did not set the world on fire during the third session, but we developed a baseline to tune from."

Jeg Coughlin Jr began the third session sitting in the number ten slot. He did not improve and stayed in the same position. He ran a 7.050 at 193.29 mph.

"The guys got back to the pit after the third session and started reviewing the data. They figured out that the motor was hurt," explained Jeg. "They found pieces of metal inside the oil and then replaced it with a fresh bullet."

The final session gave Troy Coughlin one more chance to improve. He ran a 6.981 at 197.33 mph and remained in the #16 spot. Troy will have the honor of facing number one qualifier Bruce Allen in the open round tomorrow.

"We are moving in the right direction on the set up," noted Troy. "We will regroup for tomorrow and be ready for the first round. As close as the racing is in Pro Stock anyone can win, you just have to qualify. We have done first step and tomorrow we will work on winning!"

After a between session engine change Jeg showed that his problems of the weekend could be behind him. He ran a 6.918 at 199.32 mph. Jeg will battle Jim Yates in round one. Since joining the professional ranks Jeg has been in the last seven final rounds at Pomona Raceway and has won five of them.

"I think that we found one of the problems that was hurting us all weekend long," stated Jeg. "We didn't set the world on fire during the final session. We made are strongest run and now we can go into the opening round with a solid baseline and are problems behind us."

Text Provided Scott Woodruff

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