Three-time champ Coughlin headlines Las Vegas race (NHRA/JEG'S)

 
LAS VEGAS (March 17) -- Three-time NHRA champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will be  
the star attraction of Mopars at the Strip, March 24-25, at Las Vegas Motor  
Speedway. Coughlin will be driving Michael Ogburn's famous West Coast Hemis '68  
Plymouth Barracuda in the event, which is being billed as the richest  
all-Chrysler Drag Race in the West.
 
Coughlin plans on testing his ride Thursday before competing in the  
MCG/Painter Dodge Fastest Super Stock Shootout during Friday's qualifying  sessions 
for the main event -- a 12-car Hemi Super Stock Shootout to be held  Saturday 
night.
 
"All the big shooters will be there so I'd better be ready," said Coughlin,  
who last competed at the NHRA Finals in November where he drove the JEG'S Mail 
 Order Dodge Stratus to his 46th career victory. "We're going to race my 
dragster  here in Ohio this weekend to get my mind back on racing. Then we'll test 
 Michael's car the Thursday before the Hemi Shootout so I can get 
reacquainted  with the car."
 
In his first outing with this particular car in 2005, Coughlin drove  
Ogburn's national-record-setting Barracuda to a huge victory at the Mac Tools  U.S. 
National in Indianapolis, the sport's longest running and most prestigious  
event.
 
"I've never tested this car before the events I've run with it," Coughlin  
said. "I've always just jumped right into it to race because I didn't have the  
time in my schedule to make test runs. Now that I'm taking a break from Pro  
Stock, I have the time to work with crew chief Harry Holton and get in sync 
with  the rhythm of this hot rod."
 
Mopars at the Strip has an overall purse of $35,000 with racing action  
taking place in several different categories. Coughlin stands to win $10,000  with 
a victory in the Hemi Super Stock Shootout and another $1,000 if he has the  
quickest E.T. of the weekend.
 
"My teammate Jerry Jenkins is the defending champion and Rick Houser, who  
was in the finals in Indy against me, was runner-up last year so right there you 
 have two big hitters," Coughlin said. "We're coming off a high with our big  
Dodge win in Pomona but that was five months ago. Now we're jumping right 
into  an event that could have the toughest group of racers we've ever seen in an 
 event like this. It's exciting and it's definitely gotten my attention. I'm 
not  taking anything for granted.
 
"We're happy to be racing The Strip. Certainly it's one of the premier  
facilities in the country and the weather in mid-March should be conducive to  
great elapsed times and speeds. The fans will get their money's worth at this  
event, I can assure you of that."
 

For more information on this event, look up _www.moparsatthestrip.com_ 
(http://www.moparsatthestrip.com) .
Additional resurces can be found at _www.teamjegs.com_ 
(http://www.teamjegs.com)