Home-field advantage is a phrase often heard in the sporting world. Whether it’s the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field for the Green Bay Packers, Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox of the Horseshoe for the Ohio State Buckeyes, being home for teams, with the faithful support of is fans, is an added boost of confidence.
This week Cody Coughlin and Team JEGS will enjoy that same home-field advantage when they compete in an impressive Pro Late Model event at Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, OH.
The team is making final preparations for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour race this Saturday at Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, Ohio. The CoughlinCars.com 100 will be contested at a track that is only 45 minutes away from Coughlin’s front door and the offices of the JEGS headquarters.
“We are going to have around 600 people in attendance this Saturday night from family, friends and associates with JEGS,” Coughlin said. “I am really looking forward to going back to Columbus for so many reasons, but especially to have all my family by my side.
“We had a good test there earlier this year. Last year we ran really well, but with another year of experience under our belt, we think we have a good shot at winning on Saturday night. It would mean a lot of to win there front of family and friends.”
Coughlin ran up front for most of the race at Columbus Motor Speedway last year and finished 12th. A win at his home-track would be a highlight in his career and back up his first Late Model victory earlier this year.
“It would be huge. We got that first win earlier this year at New Smyrna so the pressure is now off,” Coughlin said. “Now we want to go out and get as many as possible.”
One thing that Coughlin feels he has going into this weekend is momentum.
“I feel like we have a lot of momentum from our performance last weekend at I-44 Speedway (Lebanon, MO),” Coughlin said of his sixth place finish in Missouri. “We ran on in the top-three for most of the night, but had a few misfortunes that knocked us out of the top five.”
This will start a busy summer of racing for the JEGS.com Racing Team with the help of Freddie Query (Consultant), Nick Easton (Crew Chief) and Scott Wimmer (Spotter) working with the 17-year-old.
“We are going to have a busy summer which is good, because we don’t like sitting around twiddling our thumbs,” Coughlin said with a smile. “We want to go out there and get more experience and get some wins along the way. I think the JEGS.com team will be in contention for a lot of wins, but most of all, we are having fun this year. I want to win, but I also want to get more experience for myself and become a guy to where other competitors will look at us as a team to beat every time we come to a track. With my family, including my dad (John), mom (Di), sister (Kennedi), plus grandparents and a lot of family and friends supporting us, along with my faith in God, I feel we will accomplish our goals for this year.”
The CoughlinCars.com 100 will take place Saturday, May 25th at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio. For more information on Cody Coughlin and Team JEGS, visit www.teamjegs.com. Follow Team JEGS on Twitter, @TeamJEGS and “Like” JEGS Performance on Facebook. Please visit Speed51.com for live updates throughout the day.