Gaming Chips, Wedding Trips, Looking For A Fifth On Coughlin's Mind

LAS VEGAS, March 30, 2009: Back-to-back and reigning Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has a lot on his mind as the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads to Las Vegas for this weekend's big race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Before the race begins, Coughlin will take part in special autograph session from 6-8 p.m. Thursday night at The Palms Casino Resort where the Maloof brothers will honor Coughlin and fellow 2008 champions Tony Schumacher and Cruz Pedregon by putting special-edition gaming chips that bear their images into service.

Then he's got two days to qualify his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt for eliminations before a Saturday night helicopter ride to the rim of the Grand Canyon where Coughlin will take part in the wedding of his longtime friend Doug Daniel and Heather Rickard.

Finally, Coughlin will try to win his fifth Las Vegas title to go with the ones he earned in 2000, '01, '02, and '08.

"Las Vegas is always an exciting place but this weekend might reach new heights," said the 38-year-old from Delaware, Ohio. "This will be our second time at The Palms Resort with the special-edition chips and I'm so honored to be a part of this celebration. It's really surreal to make a bet at the blackjack table and see your face and racecar on the chip.

"Bub (Daniel) and Heather are some of my closest friends and they're finally tying the knot this weekend. There's just a small group of us flying over for the ceremony and they sure picked a spectacular place to take their vows.

"We've also got a race to do and there's no better place than The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I absolutely love the track and we've had great success there so we're ready to rock-n-roll in that department also."

Coughlin currently is second in the points trailing just Jason Line by a little more than one round of action. He's won a race in two final-round showings this season and fashioned a strong 9-3 raceday record, which just about mirrors his elimination record at LVMS, which is 31-11 lifetime.

"The car really started coming around in Houston and we managed to runner-up there," Coughlin said. "We had a great chance to win but just were a bit aggressive and wadded up the tires. We'll keep after it this weekend and see what happens."