Jeg Coughlin feeling fortunate to be in provisional Memphis field (NHRA/JEG’S)

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
NHRA O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals
Memphis Motorsports Park
Memphis, TN
August 19st

NHRA – Pro Stock
Jeg Coughlin – JEG’S Mail Order / Mopar – Dodge Stratus RT
Friday Summary

Two-time Memphis winner Jeg Coughlin was limited to just one qualifying pass Friday during an excessively hot opening day of professional qualifying for the 18th annual O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals, but he made his mark anyways, posting a quick 6.846 at 201.61 mph to secure the No. 13 position in the provisional field.

Coughlin was forced to surrender his opening pass after he noticed he had no oil pressure during his burnout. Rather than risk any damage to his Bob Glidden-tuned powerplant, he simply clicked the motor off and was pushed off the track by his crew.

“You never want to lose the first round of qualifying,” Coughlin said. “Fortunately, having a two-car team with identical hot rods, we were able to go over to my teammate Richie Stevens and look at his computer to figure out of to tune our car for the second session. It was still a bit of a crap shoot because no two cars are the same, but it certainly helped. It’s just another way that having a teammate helps you.”

Entering the slightly cooler evening session with borrowed data, Coughlin and his Jeg’s Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T crew rose to the occasion with the 13th quickest pass of the day. It wasn’t exactly what the team was hoping for but considering their start, the yellow and black crew was happy with the effort.

“We were able to get close to giving the car what it needed,” Coughlin said. “At least we got a decent baseline. The blessing at this event is that we have two qualifying sessions under the lights so we have a rare chance to redeem ourselves. We’ll be ready to get after it tomorrow. The goal is to improve within the pack and I know we have the car that can do just that.”

Because of the heat, this entire race will be run in the afternoon and evening hours. Saturday’s qualifying sessions are scheduled to begin at 3:30 and 6 p.m.


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