Championship Drag Racing

K&N Filters Winternationals
Pomona
(Feb. 6-9)

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Troy Coughlin Jeg's Mail Order Pro Stocker

Reports: Sunday Saturday Friday Thursday Pre-race

Pomona, Sunday: In the opening round of the K&N Filters NHRA Winternationals the reigning Pro Stock champion took on Randy Daniels. Jeg had lane choice and took the left lane, but the advantage off of the line went to Daniels by .005 seconds (.022 to .027). Jeg got the 60-foot clock first and than the car went to the right. Coughlin drove the Chevy Cavalier back into the center of the groove but it wasn't enough to get the win.

"We were just too aggressive for the track conditions and we got burned. The important things is we qualified," said Jeg. "Our group will head straight to Phoenix and begin preparing for the next race."

Troy Coughlin faced off against Warren Johnson in round one. Coughlin rolled his yellow and black Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier into the right lane and launched from the line first by .034 seconds (.036 to .070). The car started to spin and the rear moved around. Troy stayed with it to the end, but it was not enough for the win.

"We left the line on the aggressive side," explained Troy. "The car started moving around and just stayed with it. The good thing is that we have already started the season better this year than last year."

Pomona, Saturday: Jeg and Troy Coughlin dominated the first two days of qualifying in their identical looking yellow and black Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavaliers. Troy grabbed the top spot on the first day and Jeg leapfrogged over his older brother to take over the No. 1 position on the second day of qualifying.

The third and final day of qualifying gave the factory hot rods two shots on the track to better their respective qualifying positions.

"We just were too aggressive in the third session and missed a great opportunity to put another impressive number on the board," Jeg said. "The flip side is we gathered more data on what the track will take at about the same time of day we will run the first round on race day."

In the final session Jeg posted a 6.779 at 203.09 mph up on the board. He made the quickest run of the session in the heat of the day.

"The final session gave us the opportunity to tune off of the run we made yesterday when we were No. 1," Jeg said. "The conditions were almost identical. Last night we came back and critiqued the run like we always do and we were able to use the information to improve our qualifying position. It is very rewarding to see our program take the quickest runs in three of the four sessions."

In the open round reigning Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin will take on rookie and former Pro Stock Truck driver Randy Daniels. Jeg will have lane choice when the two go head-to-head.

Troy Coughlin and his Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier will face off against Warren Johnson in Round 1. Troy did not improve over his previous qualifying time and now it will be Troy's turn to use the data from is brothers run to improve his performance for race day.

"The first race of the year always brings an added energy level," said Troy with a smile. "When you hear the national anthem on race day and see the stands packed and fans ten deep along the fence you know you are in Pomona."

Last year, Jeg and Troy both failed to qualify for the season opener. Jeg and Troy are on opposite sides of the ladder and would like nothing more then to have an all-Jeg's final like the brothers did for the first time in 1999 at the season opener.

Pomona, Friday: Team Jeg's continues to have plenty of eyes focused on them. Troy Coughlin was the quickest on the first day of qualifying and on the second day Jeg Coughlin took the top spot from his older brother.

Jeg posted a run of 6.790 at 203.22 mph. The run was quick enough to reset the track record at Pomona Raceway.

"We learned a lot from Troy's run last night and applied it to my Jeg's Mail Order machine. We are a true team and share every piece of data. To go from not making it down the track last night to taking the top spot today shows the depth of Team Jeg's," explained Jeg.

Troy slipped to the No. 7 position. He ran a 6.822 at 202.52 mph, which was not an improvement. However, the team put a new engine in the frame rails for the second session to gain data on the newly built engine.

"We wanted to run the new engine (CB3) to get some real on-track data. Having the first and second qualifying sessions at about the same time gave us the opportunity to truly see what we have under the bench and how they compare to each other at different rpm," said Troy.

The Pro Stock cars will take to the track about three hours earlier on Saturday (11:00 am) for their third session of the weekend. The final session is scheduled for 3:00 PM, which is about the same time as the first and second sessions. Expect to see more record-breaking numbers from the "factory hot rod" class tomorrow (Saturday).

"I think we will have the opportunity to see an all-6.70 field and that would be quickest field in NHRA Pro Stock history. That is an exciting way to start the season for the fans," said Jeg.

Pomona, Thursday: Team Jeg's has the No. 1 proudly displayed on the JEG'S Mail Order Chevy Cavalier of Jeg Coughlin. However, it was Troy Coughlin that became the focus and moved to the top.

Troy erased thoughts of the past season and rocketed ahead to claim the top spot after the first day of the season. The Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier laid down an impressive run of 6.809 at 202.42 mph.

"It feels great to start off the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season sitting in the top spot of the most competitive class in motorsports. We made some personnel changes in the off season that surrounded my side of the camp and it proved to be the right decision," explained Troy.

Troy is upbeat and positive about the performance from his Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier. He also knows that this is only the first of four scheduled qualifying sessions before raceday.

"The first battle in Pro Stock is just to get qualified and I think it is safe to say that we took care of that today. I also think that a 6.77 or so will take the top spot and our group is certainly capable of staying where we are," said Troy.

The reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion would have liked things to start off a little bit differently. Jeg was forced to shut off and will begin the second day of qualifying sitting in the No. 26 spot.

"We just got too aggressive and it was compounded by some of the events that took place in the right lane ahead of our run. We will regroup and review the data from the run Troy made before we roll out on the track tomorrow," commented Jeg.

Pomona, pre-race: Team Jeg's is clearly a team to keep an eye on in NHRA's most competitive professional class. The Pro Stock brother duo have been a competitive threat in the past and are expected to help mold the class in 2003.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his familiar yellow and black JEG'S Mail Order Chevy Cavalier will proudly carry the No. 1 during the 2003 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season and the team will work on repeating as the champion. Troy Coughlin has his sights set on returning to be a competitive threat week in and week out.

"Our first goal is to qualify in Pomona, which we did not do last year and we still went on to win the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship," Jeg said. "I think this year it will take qualifying at every event to win the championship and we are looking forward to battling for 2003 title.

"We have had some very optimistic results from our two test sessions leading up to the K&N Filters Winternationals. Right now we are all tied for first and all we have to do is stay there, along with 35 others guys."

One of those 35 other guys is brother Troy.

"We made some personnel changes during the off-season on my side of the camp and we are all very excited about taking a big step forward in our program," Troy said. "Everyone has new energized step in their walk and we are all ready to battle for the next 23 races and put both of these Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavaliers in the winner's circle."

Pomona Raceway is a track that has smiled on the Coughlin brothers. Jeg and Troy faced off in the final round in 1998 to start the season with a bang. The final round showdown was the first all-Jeg's, all-Coughlin professional final for the first family of NHRA POWERade Drag Racing.

Jeg and Troy Coughlin have combined to score four final round appearances in the past four seasons at the season opener. Jeg has won the event twice in the past four seasons.