John Coughlin Looking For Third Joliet Title

JOLIET, June 9, 2010: To suggest that John Coughlin is eagerly awaiting this weekend’s North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., would be an understatement. Coughlin has won the event in two of the last three seasons and believes that there is a strong potential for a third victory this season in either his JEGS.com Top Dragster or his new Chevy Cobalt Comp Eliminator entry; or possibly both.

“I love racing in Joliet,” said Coughlin, who is the reigning North Central Division Top Dragster champion. “For some reason, I always seem to do well here. I’m especially excited about racing this year because I have two pretty good race cars right now. We just built a new engine for my Comp car and it’s actually slightly larger than the one I had at the last race. We had a small misunderstanding regarding the rules and I was disqualified from the last event. We weren’t running the car at the correct weight. It was an honest mistake and it was a bummer that I had to find out the hard way but I believe that something good comes out of everything and the end result is that we got to build a slightly larger engine and it makes more power so we should be quicker this weekend.

“I’m also really excited about running my Top Dragster because that car has been so good lately. I honestly see no reason why we can’t be competitive in both classes.”

Actually, Coughlin will have the opportunity to win a third title in Joliet as the event will also feature the long-awaited conclusion of the JEGS Top Dragster Shootout that was postponed from the 2009 season due to rain. The JEGS Top Dragster Shootout features eight of the best Top Dragster competitors in the North Central Division, including Coughlin’s championship winning yellow and black dragster.

“We tried to finish that race at the first [2010] event in Indy but it rained there so, hopefully we’ll get it done this time,” said Coughlin. “There are only eight cars in this race but they are eight of the best so it will be very tough to win. My car is probably running as good as it ever has so I’m convinced that we at least have a fighting chance. It might be a stretch to think that we could win three races this weekend but that’s certainly the goal.”

Third generation racer Troy Coughlin Jr., will once again be by his uncle John’s side in Joliet as he takes his JEGS.com dragster into battle against some of the sport’s best Super Comp racers. After winning his first national event title late last year in Las Vegas, Troy Jr. is looking for his first title of the 2010 season.

“We’ve been close a few times but as anyone will tell you, Super Comp is a very tough class and it takes a lot just to win one race,” said Coughlin. “My car is good and I feel good about my driving so really all I need is a little racing luck. I knew what I was getting into when I started racing Super Comp so I don’t get discouraged. I’ve learned that as long as you keep trying and always put forth your best effort, good things will happen.”