Date: Friday, May 11, 2018
Event: 37 Kind Days 250 (Round 6 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location: Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 2nd/7th (Running, completed 167 of 167 laps)
Cody Coughlin Starts on Front Row, Finishes Seventh at the Kansas Speedway
Coughlin Rallies to Seventh at the Kansas Speedway
STATESVILLE, N.C. (May 12, 2018)—Cody Coughlin, driver of the No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing, landed a commanding position for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) 37 Kind Days 250 at the Kansas Speedway on Friday, May 11, when he qualified second in the field of 33 entries.
Coughlin endured an up-and-down day at the Kansas Speedway, and when the checkered flag dropped under the lights, Coughlin was working his way up. The driver of the No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing rallied from 13th-place, due to varying pit strategies, to seventh in the race’s last 25 laps to score his career-best finish at the Kansas Speedway.
“Tonight’s race at the Kansas (Speedway) was really exciting,” Coughlin said. “We are definitely knocking on the door of a top-five finish and a win for the GMS Racing No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet Silverado team.
“It was great to start up front; I just wish we could have finished there as well. Our team gained a lot of insight and we are excited to head to Charlotte (Motor Speedway) next week with this momentum.”
Coughlin, part of the four-truck GMS Racing contingent, set the second-fastest lap in qualifying for the 167-lap race, turning a lap of 30.598 seconds at 176.482 mph on the 1.5-mile track in the second and final qualifying round, which was also the best qualifying effort of his young career. The front row starting line-up at the Kansas Speedway was the result of Coughlin’s first top-five qualifying effort, leading the four-truck GMS Racing contingent in qualifying, and beating his previous best NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying effort of seventh-place at the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in 2016.
As close to their heart as racing, in most cases, NASCAR driver’s mothers and wives prove to be their strongest fans and supporters. That’s why, on Mother’s Day weekend at the Kansas Speedway before the 37 Kind Days 250, Coughlin took the time to thank his mother Di Coughlin.
“She does not just watch every single race, qualifying, or practice session when the world’s eyes are on the racetrack,” Coughlin said. “Regardless if she is at the track or not, she is always watching and listening. She is cheering for me – even by text messages, phone calls, and listening on the radio throughout the day on the very rare occasions she is not there.
“You could say she has seen more of my career than I have. My mom is my biggest fan. And she’s never needed to tell me she is my biggest fan, it’s always been obvious, and I can never repay her for her fan club membership.”
Driving the yellow and black No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet Silverado, Coughlin started from the outside of the front row. Battling tight handling conditions, Coughlin maintained a top-10 position for almost the entirety of Stage 1, but the handling forced Coughlin to finish Stage 1, on Lap 40, in the 11th-place. Under caution on Lap 44, crew chief Jerry Baxter called Coughlin to pit road for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments, and he restarted in the eighth-place.
The Delaware, Ohio, native, returned to the top-10 with 15 laps to go in Stage 2, and maintained that position to gain valuable stage points when the stage concluded on Lap 80. Under caution, Coughlin received service to the No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet Silverado with tires, fuel and another round of chassis adjustments to set-up for the handling needed to charge the field in final stage. Gaining positions on pit road, the GMS Racing pit crew returned Coughlin to the track in the eighth position for the start of Stage 3.
On Lap 91, Coughlin returned to the top-five to an impressive restart effort. However, when the caution flag waved on Lap 100 and, again, on Lap 107, Coughlin reported the tight-handling conditions, but even so, he restarted in the fourth-place on Lap 110. With the long green-flag run ahead, Baxter called Coughlin to pit road under green-flag conditions on Lap 135 for four tires with an air pressure adjustment, and fuel – and Coughlin returned to action in the 13th-position. The pit strategy proved to be a smart effort, as Coughlin was able to take advantage of the long green-flag run to advance past the field into the top-10 and score a seventh-place finish.
The finish at the Kansas Speedway, when combined with the up-front run at Dover (Del.) International Speedway the previous weekend, shows that Coughlin and the No. 2 JEGS Chevrolet Silverado team have the performance, the strategy, and the drive to continue their streak and collect more top-10 finishes. This second consecutive top-10, and the third top-10 finish of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, have Coughlin heading to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway this weekend confident of attempting a top-five finish or a victory for the GMS Racing team.
The next event on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 on Friday, May 18, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The FS1 and Motor Racing Network (MRN) will broadcast the race starting at 8:30 p.m. (ET).
To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, visit Cody Coughlin on his personal Twitter and Instagram page – @Cody_Coughlin, and on the official Facebook page at /CodyCoughlin2/. For more information on Cody Coughlin visit CodyCoughlin.com. Also, follow Team JEGS’ Twitter page – @TeamJEGS, and on Instagram at @team_jegs. You can also “like” Team JEGS on the official Facebook page at /TeamJEGS/.
For media relations / public relations, contact Courtney McGarry at Courtney.McGarry@JEGS.com.
ABOUT GMS RACING
GMS Racing competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with drivers Johnny Sauter, Dalton Sargeant, Justin Haley and Cody Coughlin, and also in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Spencer Gallagher. Since the team's start in 2014, GMS Racing has grown to occupy several buildings located in Statesville, N.C. The campus also includes operations for GMS Fabrication. More information can be found at https://gmsracing.net/.
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