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NHRA: Coughlin brothers are ready for battle

24 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The Pro Stock Truck class began their second day of qualifying for the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals. Yesterday NHRA's newest professional category had two qualifying sessions, which proved to give teams a better idea of what they would have to contend with today.

The sun filled blue sky's above set the stage for the final day of qualifying for the Pro Stock Trucks. All thirty-eight drivers worked toward getting in the elite field of the "quick sixteen." Mike started the day sitting in the number five position, while older brother John Coughlin sat in the number eighteen spot.

Mike and his #28 JEG'S Mail Order S-10 rolled up to the starting line in the right lane for the third session. Coughlin left the starting line and moved around as he drove down the track. Mike did not improve over his earlier qualifying time.

Mike noted, "We just did not make a very good run. We went the wrong way on the setup and the truck did not respond well to the changes that we made." Mike slipped down to the number seven spot.

John began the third qualifying session sitting in the number eighteen spot. The #31 yellow and black JEG'S S-10 took on the left lane. John shot off of the starting line and cruised down the middle of the groove to the big end. The run that he made was an improvement in qualifying time, but he slipped to the number twenty spot.

John said, "The guys made a lot of changes to the truck going into the third session. After having one run under our belt the changes that we made are getting us closer to where we need to be."

All of the Pro Stock Truck teams and drivers were eager to run their final qualifying session, which sounds odd. However, the weather conditions improved drastically. The air temperature was 4 degrees better and the corrected altitude was 2543' feet above sea-level (a 331' foot improvement).

Mike came into the final qualifying session sitting in the number seven position. Knowing that the conditions had improved the team was very excited to run the session.

The #28 JEG'S Mail Order Chevy S-10 charged off of the starting line and headed toward the big end. The truck made some minor moves, but the chassis seemed unaffected. Mike makes a big qualifying time improvement and moves up to the number five position.

Mike will take on '98 Pro Stock Truck Champion Larry Kopp in round one, Coughlin will have lane choice. Coughlin said, "Our program is on track and the team is really fired up for raceday. I'm looking forward to racing Kopp, I made a mistake against him last time we raced and I told myself I would never make that same mistake again!"

John sat on the outside looking in going into the final qualifying session. The team continued to make big changes to John's setup before running, which is a major thing to do when you have one chance remaining to make the show.

The '99 NHRA "Rookie of the Year" front-runner pulled up to the starting line like it was business as usual. John rocketed from the starting line and left all of the doubts of not making the field behind him. John marched up to the number eight position and will have lane choice against Tim Freeman in round one.

John stated, "I was a little nervous going into the final session, but we have a great team and I put all of my trust in them. The guys did a great job!" Coughlin sits in number eleven spot in the NHRA Winston Championship points. He is trailing Jerry Haas, who failed to qualify. Coughlin commented, "I certainly have an opportunity to move up in the points and our team is ready for the task."

The Pro Stock Truck class will run the first and second rounds of competition tomorrow. There are sixteen drivers who want nothing more then to walk away with a win under their belt.

Coughlin Brothers Are Firmly Qualified After Two Sessions

Pro Stock, NHRA's most competitive competition class took on the quarter mile battle field for the first time this week. There are three races remaining in the '99 NHRA season for the "factory hot rods" and the opportunity to make a run in the point standings is decreasing with each race.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. was the first of the two JEG'S Mail Order cars to go down the Texas Motorplex track, Jeg was in the left lane. The car launched from the starting line beams and was a little on the aggressive side. The yellow and black JEG'S machine stayed in the center of the groove as it traveled to the finishline.

Jeg marched up to the number three spot after the first of four scheduled qualifying sessions. Coughlin commented, "We attacked the track a little on the aggressive side, but we got away with it. We gained some valuable information from our first run which will help us throughout the weekend."

The #24 JEG'S Mail Order Olds Cutlass driven by Troy Coughlin took of the right lane during the first qualifying session. The car left the starting line and pulled the engine rpm's down, which caused the engine to hesitate delivering the power to the chassis. Troy wisely pushed the clutch in and coasted to the finishline.

Troy noted, "We are not really sure what happened, the engine showed that it was fine on the graph and when we looked over it at the trailer. We made some equipment changes which we feel will solve the problem."

The second qualifying session gave the naturally aspirated engines improved conditions. The combination of low humidity, a 4 degree decrease in the air temperature and a corrected altitude of 2543' feet above sea-level (331' better then the first session) set the stage for some shuffling among the qualifying order.

Jeg rolled into the right lane for the second session. The yellow and black JEG'S Mail Order machine blasted off of the starting line with authority. Jeg made a move to the right 100' feet out and then quickly returned to the middle of the groove. Jeg improved his qualifying time, but he slipped to the number six spot.

Jeg explained, "When the car went to the right it hurt our time a little. On the other hand we made a very competitive run for the session and it shows that our team is on target."

Troy started the session from the outside looking in. The team made a hand full of equipment changes to Troy's car in an effort to solve the power delivery problem which occurred during the first qualifying session. The team came into the night session feeling very confident about the changes that they made to Troy's car.

Coughlin lined up in the left lane with the objective of getting firmly into the field. The #24 JEG'S Mail Order machine pulled up to the starting line ready for the challenge. The car rocketed from the starting line and never left the middle of the groove.

Troy began the session sitting in the number thirty spot and marched up to the number seven position. Coughlin noted, "I can't say enough about our team, they work great together. We did not want to be too aggressive with the setup during the second session. The team showed their strength and the ability to adapt."

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