With brand new car, Coughlin right on track for E-town return

DELAWARE, Ohio -- Pro Mod veteran Troy Coughlin is hoping to be back on track in time for the NHRA SuperNationals, to be held June 19-22, at Englishtown, N.J. Coughlin has been sidelined since wrecking his JEGS.com Pontiac GTO in Atlanta but has since purchased a replacement car and is aiming for a return at the site of his first JEGS ProMod Challenge win in 2005.

"We're still shooting for Englishtown," Coughlin said. "We'll just have to see how it all comes together. The days sure click by fast when you need time. They only drag when you can't wait to get to the next event."

Coughlin was able to buy a brand-new '68 Camaro built by Tommy Mauney of TM Race Cars. The recently-completed car was intended for racer Danny Blakenship but he was willing to part with the piece to help out Coughlin and his predicament.

"Danny told me he had to trim his racing schedule back quite a bit because his business was just through the roof so he was able to sell me this car," Coughlin said. "He knew he could find another one, especially because the majority of his racing is Quick 8 and Outlaw stuff. I feel very fortunate to have found Danny and get this car. It's awesome."

The car has been transported to Mansfield, Ohio, and spent the weekend with J.R. Hill at Competition Motorsports Painting. It arrived at Team JEGS R&D Racing Facility Monday morning.

"There's no wiring, no plumbing, nothing," Coughlin said. "We need to put it all together, from the transmission to the driveshaft, windows, engine, you name it, we need to do it. It's bare. But the guys are already hard at it.

"We're still in line at Jerry Haas so we'll have two cars again at some point in the near future. Jerry builds a great car and from what I've seen so far, this Tommy Mauney car is going to be very nice also. Hopefully, we'll be able to show it off very soon."