Promising weekend ends in first round for Jeg Coughlin (NHRA/JEG’S)

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway
Joliet, Ill.
Oct 2, 2005

Jeg Coughlin – JEG’S Mail Order / Mopar – Dodge Stratus RT (Pro Stock)
Race Day Summary

Former series champion Jeg Coughlin didn’t have enough horsepower under the hood of his yellow-an-black Jeg’s Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T Sunday morning and the 45-time national event winner was dismissed in the first round of eliminations.

“We really felt like we had a decent opportunity to run well today,” Coughlin said. “We were a top-half car yesterday during both sessions and the racetrack seemed to be coming to us. We just didn’t get it together today and the car really slid around out there. The end result is very disappointing, especially at a track that we usually run well at when we’re here.”

The weekend was going along well for Coughlin as he successfully qualified for the quickest field in NHRA history. His 6.695 at 205.47 mph earned the No. 14 position on the elimination grid, opposite fellow Ohio driver Larry Morgan’s 6.668 at 206.67 mph.

“It was exciting to make the quickest field ever,” Coughlin said. “Of course that also means that everyone else in the field is very capable of beating anyone else. Today, Larry had a car that ran extremely well. He put a great light on me, and we lost. I couldn’t see him so it must have been fairly close but I can see by our 60-foot times that we were working from behind all the way down the track.”

Morgan won with a 6.764 at 204.23 mph to Coughlin’s 6.780 at 203.46 mph.

Coughlin and crew will head back to Dallas for the rescheduled 20th anniversary O’Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec. The race was originally slated for last weekend but was postponed by Hurricane Rita. Coughlin has had success at the Texas Motorplex with one win in three final-round appearances.

TELEVISION:

Sunday, Oct. 2, ESPN2 will televise three hours of eliminations at 8 p.m. (ET).

Additional information found at: www.teamjegs.com

Media Contact:

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