Coughlin brothers bid for repeat victories stalled by inclement weather

NORWALK, Ohio – Following a pair of wins at the recent Lucas Oil Drag Racing series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Team JEGS drivers John and Mike Coughlin were more than anxious to continue the battle during this weekend’s Lucas event in Norwalk, Ohio, but they will have to wait several weeks to see if they can continue their winning ways after the event was postponed by rain. After completing one round of eliminations, a line of thunderstorms forced the remainder of eliminations to be postponed. The event been rescheduled for July 25-27, and will be moved to National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, the home base of the JEGS Mail Order team.

“It’s never fun when you have a rain delay but obviously there is nothing we can do about it,” said John, who is the reigning Division 3 Top Dragster champion. “Mike and I were driving well and we were both hoping for a long afternoon but Mother Nature had other ideas. On the plus side, the rest of the race is being moved to National Trail Raceway, which is our home track. Mike and I are both very comfortable racing there so hopefully that will work in our favor.”

After a pair of solid qualifying efforts in Norwalk, John won his first-round match against Tom Elliott in the Top Dragster class and Mike claimed a win in the opening round of Top Sportsman, driving his Chevy Cobalt to a win over Mark Malcuit.

“My JEGS.com Cobalt was just about perfect this weekend and I felt very comfortable behind the wheel,” said Mike. “Hopefully, we can carry that momentum over to the next race. I’m already looking forward to it.”

Before finishing the rain-delayed Norwalk event, the JEGS team will have two other opportunities to compete in Division 3 Lucas Oil Series competition as the series next moves to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., on June 13-15 and then on to the Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Mich., July 12-13.