Semifinal finish lifts Coughlin to fourth in world rankings (NHRA)

HOUSTON (April 1) – Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin Jr.
thundered up to  fourth place in the POWERade championship points
with a strong semifinal showing  at the 20th annual Spring Nationals
at Houston Raceway Park.
 
The 36-year-old from Delaware, Ohio, emerged from the No. 1 qualifying  
position and raced past Kenny Koretsky and Greg Stanfield before bowing out to  
reigning series champion Jason Line by three-hundredths of a second.
 
Coughlin got a gargantuan headstart against Line, leaving the starting line  
with a fantastic .019-second reaction time, a full four hundredths of a second 
 ahead of Line, but his Slammers Ultimate Milk Chevrolet Cobalt spun its 
tires  severely on the launching pad. The momentary loss of traction allowed Line 
to  sneak past for the win, 6.687 to 6.760.
 
"All in all this was a fantastic weekend," Coughlin said. "We got our first  
No. 1 qualifier of the year and we went from seventh to fourth in the points 
in  one event so that's exciting. I'm really pleased with how this car is 
running  right now.
 
"I'm excited with my teammate Dave Connolly also. He's third in the points  
now so we have both of Victor Cagnazzi's cars right up at the top of the  
standings. The only guys ahead of us are Greg [Anderson] and Jason and they've  won 
the last four championships. Our goal was to try our best to run with them  
and we're right there."
 
The NHRA tour takes one weekend off before heading to Las Vegas April  13-15.