Coughlin playing with local knowledge (NHRA/JEG’S)

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals
Brainerd International Raceway
Brainerd, MN
August 12-14th

NHRA – Pro Stock
Jeg Coughlin – JEG’S Mail Order / Mopar – Dodge Stratus RT
Pre Race Release

A winner of 45 national events on the NHRA tour, Jeg Coughlin will be the first to tell you what an advantage it is to compete at a racetrack where you’ve won before. As he arrives in Minnesota’s vacationland for the 24th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Coughlin will be able to use the experience of three trips to Brainerd International Raceway’s winner’s circle to help guide his Jeg’s Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T team.

But Coughlin’s strategic edge doesn’t just include his 1997 Super Stock win at BIR, or his pair of Pro Stock titles captured here in ’99 and ’02. This time through Coughlin will be able to lean on the experience of 10-time Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden, who now tunes Coughlin’s hot rod, which competes out of the Don Schumacher Racing stable. Four of Glidden’s 85 victories came at BIR, tying him for the class lead.

“Between the two of us we should figure this one out,” Coughlin said. “We’ve got a great racecar right now and the guys at the engine shop have been making plenty of power. When you add those two things together with me and Bob’s combined experience winning races at this track, we should be able to put together a big weekend.”

Remarkably, Coughlin’s last national event win came two years ago in Sonoma, Calif., at the event that precedes the Brainerd race each season.

“I know and respect this sport and I know you go through stretches like this from time to time,” Coughlin said. “Last season one team won 19 races. There weren’t many leftover for the rest of us. The year’s when we won our championships we probably got more breaks then the other guys. It’s just the way it goes.

“I don’t feel I have the right to be frustrated. My experience tells me that when you’re not winning you just need to keep after it and be ready to take advantages of the good things that might come your way. There is no lack of effort or drag racing intelligence in this group. We all know what it takes to win and we know how to get there. It will come together soon. Brainerd would be a great launching pad for us.”

Qualifying begins at 2:30 p.m. CST Friday.


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