Jeg Coughlin Takes Third Win Of The Season

SONOMA, July 19, 2010: Jeg Coughlin Jr. is keeping the new approach he came up with while he was supposed to be vacationing in Lake Tahoe last week.

Coughlin guided the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to victory in Pro Stock on Sunday at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals for his third win of the season. He chalked the success up to the new way he and the JEGS.com team approached the weekend from the time they set foot on Infineon Raceway property.

“It was a good racecar,” Coughlin said. “That’s what you need in Pro Stock. We approached this race a little differently from the time we came in on Thursday. We executed from Square One.”

Coughlin eliminated Jason Line in the finals of Sunday’s race. In the final, Coughlin cut a .010 light and rocketed to a 6.590 second pass at 209.52 mph. Line ran a 6.602 at 209.39.

“The KB Racing cars are extremely tough,” Coughlin said. “We were one of the two or three quickest cars all day. I’ve had a couple of red lights here lately, and that’s a rare thing to do in Pro Stock.

“Nothing was my goal more than to get here and focus on raceday. When I let the clutch out in the final round, I thought to myself, ‘Let’s go!’ It felt fantastic. When the win light came on, I was going nuts. I don’t get too excited that often. It was a big win for us today.”

On the way to the final, Coughlin beat Larry Morgan, Greg Anderson and Shane Gray. The closest of those races came against Anderson in the quarterfinals. Coughlin ran a 6.595 second pass at 209.72 mph and Anderson had a 6.590 at 209.07 mph.

“Any time you can get by the KB cars is awesome, but to get by them both in one day? That’s a tough feat,” Coughlin said. “We were able to get that done today.”

The appearance in the finals was the 100th of Coughlin’s career (81 professional, 19 Sportsman) and the 51st Pro Stock victory of his career. He also moved back into third in the points and clinched a spot in the Countdown to the Championship.

“To be in our 100th final? I didn’t realize that,” Coughlin said. “That’s exciting. These Full Throttle Series races are extremely prestigious to be a part of and we’ve had great success at it.”