NHRA: Team Jeg's is refocused and ready for battle
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 2, 2001
The battle for the top spot in NHRA Pro Stock is on and is heating up with each race. Reigning Pro Stock Champion Jeg Coughlin will enter the seventh race of the season ready to strike from the No. 3 position. He has 414 points and is a mere 17 points from reclaiming the No. 1 position in the NHRA Winston Championship from Warren Johnson. Kurt Johnson is only 10 points ahead of Jeg.
Team Jeg's will return to Atlanta Dragway as the defending Champion. Last year Jeg left the Johnson family's home track with the title. The 31-year old would like nothing more than to repeat last year's victory and leave the peach state with the points lead.
"Our team has had moderate success at Atlanta Dragway over the years. Last year was a turning point for our team at this track and we are looking forward to picking up where we left off," commented Jeg.
Jeg and his yellow and black Chevrolet Cavalier have won two races so far this season. The Jeg's machine rolled into the winner's circle at the SummitRacing.com Nationals and most recently at the Mac Tools Gatornationals.
"I am sure that the Johnson family has put more laps under their belt at Atlanta Dragway then any other team in drag racing. Winning in someone else's backyard is always sweet, we deal with the same thing when the NHRA invades National Trail Raceway each year," explained Jeg.
Jeg was defeated in the first round at the Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals last week. Troy missed qualifying for the show by a narrow margin. The Coughlin's are quick to point out that they made some mistakes last weekend. The team learned from their mistakes and they are ready to rebound this weekend.
"We took a different approach last weekend and we got bit early. We changed the set up in both of our Chevrolet Cavaliers going into the final qualifying session and we made the quickest run of the session in my car and Troy was the fifth quickest," said Jeg.
"We made an engine change in my car going into the final session and the car responded a lot better. Unfortunately it was a little too late. We chalked it up as a learning experience and our team benefited from what we learned down the road," added Troy.
Team Jeg's is refocused and ready to take charge of their own destiny when they return to the Atlanta Dragway for the NHRA Advanced Auto Nationals.
Text provided by Scott Woodruff
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