For Cody Coughlin and his Team JEGS crew, this Saturday night at Columbus Speedway in Ohio will be emotional. The Joe Gibbs Racing Development Driver will race in front of his hometown crowd for the final time. The historic facility is closing its doors at season’s end.
Coughlin will pilot his JEGS.com Toyota in the Memorial 100 for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, a race that was initially supposed to be run on May 28.
The series managed to run practice and qualifying back in May before the rain came and washed out any chance of racing on that night.
Coughlin, the series points leader, qualified second in May, which showed that if someone else was going to win at his home track they’d have to challenge him to do it.
“I was a bit upset we got rained out back in May because we were so fast that day,” Coughlin said. “I thought we’d have a great chance at winning at my home track that day, but I know we’ll definitely have a great chance on Saturday when we finally run.”
The 20-year-old driver from nearby Delaware, Ohio started his racing career at the quarter-midget track at Columbus Motor Speedway. Now with Columbus closing at the end of this year, a win at his home track would mean even more.
“I’d love to win on Saturday at Columbus. A win at my home track, in front of my family and my friends would mean so much to me anyway, but this is the final chance to go to victory lane at my home-track and that would mean a lot.
“I’m very excited to get to the track on Saturday. I know that Jack (Smith, crew chief), Kevin (Hamin, team manager), Scott (Wimmer, spotter) and Dave (Holt, crew member) will give me a car that can win like always. I can’t thank them enough for all of their hard work every single race. My dad (John) and mom (Di), plus Kennedi (sister) and other family members and friends will be there. It will be a meaningful night for our family and I thank God for the the opportunity to have all of us together Saturday night at Columbus.”
With qualifying having already taken place in May, the schedule for Coughlin is a bit lighter than usual this weekend. Coughlin will hit the track on Saturday for a one-hour practice session, beginning at 3 p.m. ET. Racing will follow shortly thereafter at 7 p.m. ET with Coughlin starting in the eighth position after the invert.
For more information on Cody Coughlin and Team JEGS, visit www.teamjegs.com and follow Cody on Twitter, @Cody_Coughlin. Follow Team JEGS on Twitter, @TeamJEGS, and “Like” JEGS Performance on Facebook. Also be sure to check out Cody’s new website, www.codycoughlin.com. Any other inquiries for Cody Coughlin can be sent to Bob Dillner via email at bd51sports@gmail.com.