Troy Coughlin braces for battle under St. Louis Arch (NHRA/JEGS)
Troy Coughlin braces for battle under St. Louis Arch ST. LOUIS (April 28) -- Troy Coughlin has one of the quickest nitrous-powered Pro Mod racecars in the country, a fact that has the reigning NMCA world champion extremely excited as he heads to Gateway International Raceway for this weekend's 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. Coughlin will be competing in the third of 10 races on the 2010 Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. His JEGS.com race team currently has him ninth in the crowded standings, just 47 points behind top-ranked Melanie Troxel. "We're ready to race," Coughlin said. "We have a very capable car and we're doing all we can to max-out this tune-up. Everyone in the top 10 is pretty bunched up so we can really make a nice move if things go our way." The season's first two events have featured world record numbers by a few of the top race teams that utilize superchargers to add power. However, the weather will be much warmer in St. Louis, which Coughlin hopes will level the playing field. "The blown cars seem to have an advantage right now but having all that extra horsepower might not help as much when the track's start to get greasy and hot," Coughlin said. "It should start coming back to the drivers and crew chiefs a lot more now and that's good news for us because our crew chief, Rickie Smith, has made a living getting racecars down the track, regardless of conditions. "As we found out when JEGS sponsored and ran the series a few years back, it's very hard to get the perfect balance between NOS cars, supercharged cars, and turbo cars so they all run similar numbers. The main thing is to get them all as competitive as possible so we can put on the best show possible for the fans. "Roger Burgess (series sponsor and organizer) has done a tremendous job with bringing the entire series forward and we pledge our support and assistance in helping him maximize the series to everyone's benefit." The first two rounds of Pro Mod qualifying are scheduled for 2:45 and 5 p.m. Friday. --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, ext 412) Mobile: 614.595.1820 Fax: 740.362.5507 Email: _jegspr@aol.com_ (mailto:jegspr@aol.com) -or- _scott.woodruff@jegs.com_ (mailto:scott.woodruff@jegs.com)