Coughlin pleased with best outing of the Pro Mod season
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/Troy_20047.jpg" alt="Troy_20047" align="left"borders="0"/>DALLAS (Sept. 21) -- Troy Coughlin and his JEGS.com Chevrolet Camaro race team were pleased with their two-round excursion in JEGS ProMod Challenge action at the 23rd annual Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals as it marked the group's best outing of 2008.
After qualifying 13th with a 6.120 at 234.45 mph in just his second race with his new Tommy Mauney-built racecar, Coughlin opened eliminations on Saturday night with a season-best 6.010 at 237.00 mph in upsetting championship contender Kirk Kuhns.
Advancing to Sunday's quarterfinal round at the Texas Motorplex, Coughlin faced former world champion Jay Payne. This time it was Payne taking the win with a 6.230 at 231.91 mph to Coughlin's surrendering run of 8.007 at 112.81 mph.
"Jay got a jump on us but I caught and passed him right away," Coughlin said. "But when I pulled it into second gear, or should I say when I tried to pull it into second gear, it wouldn't go. That was the end of the race for us. It's a bummer because we would have run a 6.03 or 6.04 according to the data.
"We're not upset. We're definitely making headway with this new car and we're heading in the right direction. There are lots of reasons to be excited about the final two races of the JEGS ProMod Challenge."
Coughlin and the rest of the Pro Mod contingent's next race takes place on Oct. 10-12 at the Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va.
