Semifinal finish in King Demon event preps Jeg for race day

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
NHRA Carquest Nationals
Route 66 Raceway
Chicago, IL
June 11th

Jeg Coughlin Jr. – Pro Stock
Troy Coughlin – ProMod
Saturday Qualifying Summary

Jeg Coughlin used a strong semifinal finish in Saturday’s King Demon Crown special event to prepare him for a run at the title of the eighth annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Coughlin’s top-half qualifying effort of 6.799 seconds at 201.82 mph placed his Jeg’s Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T seventh on the elimination grid.

Coughlin will race “Tricky Rickie” Smith in Sunday’s opening round of sudden-death eliminations. Smith qualified 10th overall with a 6.803-second, 201.97-mph pass. The two have met twice this year with Coughlin holding a perfect 2-0 mark against his rival.

“We’ve been very consistent here and a driver always likes when he can count on his car,” Coughlin said. “We had a 6.79 and the rest were 6.81s so that’s a great effort by the entire team. We know exactly where we stand heading into race day.”

In the King Demon Crown, a special race within a race for the top eight qualifiers of the last 12 months, Coughlin opened with a big upset of No. 3 qualifier Larry Morgan, who fouled out at the starting line after jumping the green light with a -.067 reaction time. Coughlin would have been hard to beat any way as he ran a 6.814 at 201.97 mph ahead of Morgan’s 6.927 at 200.80 mph. In the semifinals, Coughlin faced eventual event winner Jason Line, who posted a winning 6.797 at 202.97 mph to Coughlin’s 6.811 at 203.03 mph.

“We’re slightly disappointed there because the goal is always to win any race you enter but the car ran well and we did upset Larry in the opening round,” Coughlin said. “It’s exciting to race for big money like that and I really feel like I’ve already slipped into race mode for the weekend. Hopefully, that will give us a slight edge tomorrow.”

In Pro Mod action, Jeg’s Mail Order Ford Mustang driver Troy Coughlin finished up qualifying Saturday morning with an improved 6.361 at 223.02 mph. That run set-up a Saturday night elimination-round date with Frankie Taylor, who posted a 6.232 at 229.00 mph in qualifying seventh.

Resources are available for your use at www.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
Web Site: www.teamjegs.com -or- www.jegs.com