READING, Pa. (Oct. 4) — Jeg Coughlin Jr. will begin his quest for a fifth Pro Stock victory in the heart of Pennsylvania's Dutch Country from the No. 7 position after a strong qualifying effort of 6.525 seconds at 211.93 mph in his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Dart at Maple Grove Raceway.
It'll be a crucial race day for Coughlin, the five-time and defending world champion. He entered the weekend 133 points off the Mello Yello championship lead with just three more races left on the schedule. Points leader Jason Line qualified a few slots up in third and could potentially meet Coughlin in the semifinals.
"Sunday should be great," Coughlin said. "We have a cold front moving in as we speak and they tell me we'll get down in the 40s tonight and only warm up to about 60 degrees tomorrow, which will be just perfect for these Pro Stock cars. It could be very, very fast. We already saw a near world record out there in Q4 so it's definitely within reach.
"We've made three really nice runs in qualifying, just missing it a touch in the final session. Even so, we are running this special edition pink car to help raise awareness for breast cancer and it's gone over so well I feel like we've won already before we've even let the clutch out on race day. We're very honored to run this paint scheme and we're thankful that our partners like Mopar, Traxxas, Mac Tools, Oakley and Speedco have joined us in recognizing such a great cause."
Coughlin will line up his pink-accented hot rod against a very familiar opponent in Round 1 with No. 10 qualifier Greg Anderson, a four-time world champion, in the opposite lane. Anderson's best pass in qualifying was a slightly slower 6.539 at 212.49 mph. The two men have raced one another a remarkable eight times this year with Coughlin holding a 6-2 edge.
"We've seen a lot of that car this year," Coughlin said. "It's been a great rivalry with Greg over the years and we've just been battling every weekend it seems this season. He's a great driver, a champion, and that team is always solid. We'll do everything we can to beat him and advance forward in this championship chase.
"This is a team that never surrenders. We're all in until it's over and we'll be going for another victory tomorrow. This track has been so kind to us over the years. Hopefully there's some more magic here for us."
Weather permitting, Pro Stock eliminations begin at noon at Maple Grove Raceway and will be shown in a slight tape delay on ESPN2.