Jeg Coughlin flexes horsepower Saturday

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
50th anniversary NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis Raceway Park
Indianapolis, IN
Sept. 4, 2004

Team JEG’S – Pro Stock
Jeg Coughlin, Jr.
Saturday Qualifying Summary

Still reveling in his dominating wire-to-wire victory in Friday’s Mopar Performance Parts Super Stock Hemi Challenge, three-time NHRA champion Jeg Coughlin rode his momentum to a lofty fourth-place perch on the Pro Stock qualifying ladder of the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Coughlin made one of the most impressive runs of the weekend when he overcame the midday heat and posted a 6.811 at 202.76 mph in Saturday’s first session, which temporarily lifted him to second place. The run not only elevated his position on the qualifying ladder it, perhaps more importantly, showed the rest of the class the Jeg’s Mail Order Chevrolet Cavalier team will be ready for what’s expected to be identical conditions on race day.

Then, as the sun slipped over the horizon, Coughlin managed to get even quicker, running a 6.805 at 202.39 mph. Of note, Coughlin’s second pass was the fastest of the weekend in the entire class, which features a whopping 38 cars for this event.

“Things went pretty well today,” Jeg said. “We made a nice move in Q2 [the second qualifying session] and managed to get up to the No. 2 spot from eighth place. Then we slipped back just a little bit in relation to a couple of the frontrunners in the evening and ended up fourth.

“We just had the car set up a little soft for the right-hand lane and it wanted to wag it’s tail a little bit down low. But it cleaned itself up and carried me down through there pretty well. We can’t be too upset with where we are at this point.”

The U.S. Nationals is the only race on the circuit that features five qualifying sessions so Coughlin and the rest of the Pro Stock class still have two more chances to improve their standing on the elimination grid. Sunday’s final two rounds are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday’s eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

“We’ve had a good Indy thus far but we want to pick up the pace just a little bit and get right back to the top and challenge from there,” Jeg said.

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