Semifinal finish for Coughlin keeps him in the
championship mix (NHRA/JEGS)
Semifinal finish for Coughlin keeps him in the championship mix
DALLAS (Sept. 27) -- Back-to-back Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. kept
his threepeat hopes alive by racing to the semifinal round of the 24th
annual Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.
Coughlin beat Steve Spiess and Rodger Brogdon before falling to Johnny
Gray in the third round when his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt went sideways just
off the launch pad, forcing him shut his car off to prevent an accident.
"It's disappointing to beat yourself, which is how this feels," Coughlin
said. "Take nothing away from Johnny Gray. He won the round and I
congratulate him, but I sure wish we could have made it down the track and given
ourselves a chance.
"We fought hard all day and it was a real battle. In Round 1 we were given
some bad fuel and the car almost didn't run at all. All we changed for
Round 2 was the fuel and we picked up considerably so I'm not sure what the
deal was with the fuel supply. I guess we should be happy we made it as far
as we did."
Coughlin's quarterfinal victory against Brogdon, who rents a Victor
Cagnazzi Racing engine and car, was one of the closest races of the season with
the final margin of victory just seven-10-thousandths of a second. Brogdon
earned a slight .033- to .049-second headstart but was run down and caught
inches before the finish line with Coughlin's 6.676 at 207.40 mph just
enough to get the win over Brogdon's 6.692 at 206.83 mph.
The opening round wasn't quite as dramatic with Coughlin beating Spiess
from end to end, posting a 6.681 at 206.76 mph to Spiess' 6.705 at 206.13 mph.
"We'll move onto Memphis and get after it again Friday," Coughlin said.
"There's six races in the Countdown to 1 and the first four are all in a row
so you don't have much time to think about things, you just press forward.
"Mike (Edwards) was the only guy ahead of us in the points and he lost in
the semis also so no harm, no foul there. We've got a good racecar and
we'll just go hard in Memphis, a track that's been very good to us in the past."
--30--
Information regarding JEGS Mail Order can be found at _www.jegs.com_
(http://www.jegs.com/) and for media/fan resources checkout _www.teamjegs.com_
(http://www.teamjegs.com/) .
Media Contact:
Scott "Woody" Woodruff
JEGS, Director of Media & Motorsports
Office: 800.345.4545 (3.412)
Mobile: 614.595.1820
Fax: 740.362.4385
Email: _jegspr@aol.com_ (mailto:jegspr@aol.com) -or-
_scott.woodruff@jegs.com_ (mailto:scott.woodruff@jegs.com)