Jeg Scores Runner-up

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals
Gainesville, FL
March 21st

Team JEG’S – Pro Stock
Jeg Coughlin
Race Day Summary

Jeg Coughlin, Jr and his JEG’S Mail Order Chevy Cavalier started race day from the No. 3 qualifying position for the second straight race.

In the opening round Jeg faced off against Barry Grant. Lane choice went to Jeg and he took the preferred left lane. The Jeg’s Mail Order Chevy Cavalier left the starting line first (.040 to .184) by .144 seconds and never looked back. Jeg posted an impressive run of 6.773 at 203.89 mph on the board. The run was the second quickest of the round and the margin of victory was .2023 seconds at the stripe.

“The run we made in the opening round was our second pass with our new engine,” said Jeg. “The run felt great from start-to-finish and it gave us a great baseline to tune from for race day.”

The second round put Jeg and Pro Stock veteran Darrell Alderman head-to-head. The match up was a rematch of the 2002 final round of the Mac Tools Gatornationals, which Alderman won.

Alderman grabbed the advantage off of the line by .011 seconds (.025 to .036) against the Jeg. The advantage Alderman had off of the starting line wasn’t enough to hold off the hard charging Jeg’s Mail Order Chevy Cavalier. The round win went to Jeg by .0371 seconds at the finish line. He ran a 6.789 at 203.61 mph and made the second quickest run of the round.

“We made a move in the right direction and the Jeg’s Mail Order Chevy Cavalier responded great,” commented Jeg. “The changes that we are making are small measurable ones and it’s really paying off.”

The semifinal round put Jeg and Jim Yates face-to-face. Lance choice went to Jeg and he continued to stick with the left lane.

The Jeg’s Mail Order Chevy Cavalier grabbed the starting line advantage and never looked back. Jeg pair laid a .051 advantage off of the line to another round win for the men in yellow and black. He posted a quicker run of 6.793 at 203.16 mph and took the win light by .1037 seconds to advance to his first final round appearance of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season.

“The car launched from the starting line and made a move to the left,” said Jeg. “I drove it back to the center of the grove, but it hurt our time and we lost lane choice for the final round.”

Jeg lined up next to Greg Anderson in the final round. Anderson left the line first by .003 seconds (.045 to .048). The two cars charged side-by-side all the way down the 1320-foot track battling for the win.

The win went to Anderson and Jeg posted a run of 6.796 at 204.08 mph. This was the 50th professional final round appearance for the Pro Stock standout and two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion. It also was the third straight runner-up for the 33-year old at the Mac Tools Gatornationals.

“There is only one guy happier,” said Jeg. “We had a productive weekend and now we need to build on the momentum we created here at the Mac Tools Gatornationals. Our program is going in the right direction and we were a threat to all weekend.”


ROUND-BY-ROUND:

Round #1: J. Coughlin 6.773 at 203.89 mph, defeated B. Grant 6.831 at 203.16 mph.
Round #2: J. Coughlin 6.789 at 203.61 mph, defeated D. Alderman 6.837 at 203.29 mph.
Round #3: J. Coughlin 6.793 at 203.16 mph, defeated J. Yates 6.845 at 202.65 mph.
Round #4: G. Anderson 6.742 at 204.91 mph, defeated J. Coughlin 6.796 at 204.08 mph.


POINTS:

Jeg earned 96 points at the NHRA Mac Tools Gatornationals. He will enter the fourth race of 2004 NHRA season in the No. 4 position in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship with 20 races remaining. His efforts this weekend moved him up to spots. The next event is the NHRA Summit Nationals in Las Vegas, NV April 1-4th.

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