NHRA: Team JEG'S Shows Big Improvement Throughout The Day
1 October 1999
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The Pro Stock Truck class was the first professional class to take on the
quarter mile battle field at the Advanced Auto Nationals in Topeka,
Kansas.
The other professional classes will begin their qualifying tomorrow.
The clear blue sky set the stage for a great day of qualifying. Teams spent the day getting a firm handle on the track and the setup combinations that would work well. The track conditions combined with the weather conditions gave NHRA's newest professional class a great battle field to compete on.
Mike Coughlin is clearly being eyed by his competition after his US Nationals win earlier this month. In the first qualifying session Mike and his JEG'S Mail Order S-10 were in the right lane. The truck launched from the starting line and was a little on the aggressive side.
Mike said, "We just came out of the trailer too aggressive for the conditions that we have to deal with here."
On the other side of the JEG'S Pro Stock Truck coin is John Coughlin. John comes into this race sitting in the number eleven position in the NHRA Winston Championship and 26 points separating him from breaking into the top ten. The setup in John's truck was also a little on the aggressive side during the first session.
John noted, "The transmission did not respond well to the setup that we had on the truck, but we know where we are and where we need to go."
The team had a better handle on what the track wanted after running the first qualifying session. Armed with more data the JEG'S team went to work. The second session proved to be a great baseline for the team to work from.
Mike started the second session qualified in the number sixteen spot. The yellow and black JEG'S S-10 took up temporary residence in the left lane. The truck launched from the starting line and marched straight down Broadway all the way to the big end.
Coughlin improved his qualifying time and moved up to the number thirteen position. Mike stated, "We now have solid baseline to fine tune our setup from. We will spend tomorrow making small changes to the setup to further improve."
John rolled into the second session on the outside looking in from the number twenty-five spot. The #31 yellow and black JEG'S machine left the starting in true form. The truck rocketed down the quarter mile and never left the center of the groove.
John's efforts moved him upto the number seven position with two qualifying session remaining. Coughlin stated, "That's more like it. The run we made during the second session felt a lot better and is more indicative of what our team is capable of."
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