Troy makes a good first impression

ATLANTA (April 27) -- Troy Coughlin made his long-awaited debut in the AMS Pro Mod Challenge series, piloting his turbo-charged JEGS.com Pontiac GTO through a respectable opening-round pass of 6.36 at 229 mph. As the only turbo-charged entry in the class, Troy had plenty of onlookers at the starting line, including most of his fellow competitors. He didn't disappoint, grabbing the No. 12 position in the provisional field.

"Well, it's certainly good to get the car out and make it down the track without incident but the over-riding thought have right now is that there is a lot more in there," Troy said. "I definitely expect us to pick it up considerably in the next session.

"Our top speed is very encouraging although I'm not surprised because the car was really moving down track. We just need to get our 60-foot times up and we'll be very competitive. I love this car and it's fun to see everyone else being so curious about it."

Friday's scheduled second round was moved to Saturday after several delays occurred in the nitro ranks. Officials notified the teams that the evening round would not be contested until tomorrow.

"Of course we would have liked to have run in the evening when it was cooler but we all have the same thing to deal with so it's no big deal," Troy said. "I know my team will have us ready to race and I'm excited to make another pass."

Photo courtesy of CompetitionPlus.com