Jeg Coughlin claims Las Vegas Hemi Shootout title (NHRA/JEG’S)

Jeg Coughlin earned his first win of the 2006 season when he captured the
Mopar Hemi Shootout title during the annual “Mopars at the Strip” event held
at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the final round, Coughlin drove
Michael Ogburn’s ’68 Barracuda to the quickest run of the weekend with an
8.80 at over 151 mph to take a victory over West Coast Hemis teammate Jerry
Jenkins, who red-lighted at the start. Although the former two-time NHRA Pro
Stock champion hasn’t driven a Super Stockcar since last September’s Mac
Tools U.S. Nationals, he showed no signs of rust.

“This was a great weekend for me and for the entire West Coast Hemis
team,” said Coughlin who had a nearly perfect .001 reaction time in the final
round. “I really enjoy racing in Super Stock, and these Hemi cars are always a
lot of fun to drive. Last December, Michael and I talked about the possibility
of me racing his car at this event and I’m really glad we were able to make it
happen.

I cut it a little close in the final with the .001 light, but otherwise my
reaction times were right where I wanted them to be.”

The event featured a “Chicago-style” elimination format with all six
entries racing in the first two rounds of eliminations and the two quickest
winners advancing to the final round. Coughlin went undefeated on the day with
preliminary round wins over Bob Mazzolini’s Barracuda and Mark Vieira’s
Dodge Dart. Coughlin also had low elapsed time of the first two rounds with runs
of 8.87 and 8.88.

Coughlin is scheduled to drive for Ogburn’s team in Hemi Shootout events
that will be held at the upcoming Jegs.com NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle
Rose, La., next month and the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in September.

“We tried a few different things with this car this weekend and they all
seemed to work very well,” said Coughlin. “The car was very consistent,
which helps make my job as a driver much easier. Before the final, our crew
chief, Harry Holton made sure that my car and Jerry’s car were pretty equal,
so I knew I had to do my job.

“It was also important for me to make some runs in this car before we went
to the SPORTSnationals in Louisiana,” Coughlin continued. “Hopefully we can
go down there and put both of our cars in the final again.”

Coughlin, has now driven for the West Coast Hemi team on three occasions and
has reached the final round each time. He was the winner of the Mopar
Performance Hemi Challenge at Indy in 2004 and was runner-up at the same event
in 2005. In addition to his occasional stints behind the wheel of Ogburn’s
car, Coughlin also plans to race his Jeg’s Mail Order dragster and his new
Jeg’s Mail Order Chevy II Wagon in E.T. bracket and Super Comp events this season.

For more information on the JEG’S Mail Order, please visit Jegs.com and for media/fan resources check out teamjegs.com.

Media Contact:

Scott ‘Woody’ Woodruff
Director of Media & Motorsports
Office: 800.345.4545 (3.412)
Mobile: 614.595.1820
Fax: 740.362.4385
Email: jegspr@aol.com -or- scott.woodruff@jegs.com