NHRA: Jeg and Troy Coughlin are excited about raceday at St. Louis
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
June 24, 2001The second and final day of qualifying began for the professional classes on Saturday. Troy sat in the No. 10 position and Jeg was on the bump in the No. 16 spot.
During the third qualifying session Jeg and his Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier was the first of the Team Jeg's vehicles to take on the track. When Jeg rolled into the waterbox he had already been bumped out of the field and had his eyes set on breaking back into the quick sixteen.
Jeg launched from the starting line in the left lane and made a quick move toward to wall. The yellow and black car quickly recovered and returned to the middle of the groove. The run was an improvement for Jeg. He ran a 6.907 at 199.58 and landed in the No. 14 position by the time the third session was completed.
"We made an engine change last night and we were on the aggressive side leaving the starting line in the third session," said Jeg.
Troy followed Jeg in the opposite lane a couple of pair of cars behind his younger brother. Troy also made an aggressive move to the left at the 60-foot clock. He was a little further outside of the groove then Jeg was during his run. The run was not an improvement for Coughlin. He ran a 6.917 at 199.05 mph and moved down to the No. 11 spot.
"There seems to be a real fine line with the initial wheel speed at this track. We are getting it under control and learning a lot about the track for raceday," explained Troy.
In the final qualifying session Jeg and Troy were side-by-side. Jeg ran a 6.953 at 198.79 mph and Troy crossed the finish line with a 6.956 at 199.08 mph. Neither run was an improvement.
"The conditions that we experienced in the final session are very close to what we should see tomorrow. Troy and I both made solid runs in our Jeg's Chevy Cavaliers and we are looking forward to raceday," said Jeg.
"Running side-by-side in the same session should really help us on raceday. We now can really compare our runs with even greater accuracy. Tomorrow will be a new day and Team Jeg's will be ready for the challenge when the sun comes up," explained Troy.
In the opening round Jeg will face off against Kurt Johnson. Jeg will begin his battle from the No. 14 position. Troy landed in the No. 11 spot and will go head-to-head against Jim Yates in round one.
Text provided by Scott Woodruff
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit
The Racing Photo Museum and the
Visions of Speed Art Gallery.