NHRA News: Coughlin dominates Mopar Hemi Challenge (9/3/2004)

Coughlin dominates Mopar Hemi Challenge

9/3/2004

Jeg Coughlin

Jeg Coughlin, long regarded as one of the most naturally talented drivers of this or any other era, displayed his versatility as he drove Michael Ogburn and Harry Holton's West Coast Hemi's Barracuda to a victory in today's Mopar Super Stock Hemi Challenge. The two-time Pro Stock champ and former Sportsman ace had never even sat in Holton's 8-second Super Stock entry prior to the start of qualifying for the 50th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. However, that didn't prevent him from dominating the 22-car field and walking off with the $10,000 first place prize.

Paired with veteran class racer Rick Houser in the final, Coughlin survived by a hundredth of a second in one of the best races of the day, 8.79 to 8.80.

"That was too close to call. I had no idea who was going to win," said Coughlin. "In fact, I was behind at the 300-foot mark and I thought, 'Oh no, I'm in big trouble.' Thankfully, I had enough Harry Holton horsepower to just drive by him."

Coughlin, who landed the ride only because Holton did not have the requisite grading points to enter the U.S. Nationals, had never driven the car before Wednesday's opening Super Stock qualifying session. Yet, he was able to set the tone early with an 8.73 that was the quickest SS/AA run of qualifying.

In eliminations, Coughlin followed his round-one win over Fred Henson's Texas-based Dart with an 8.76 on his bye in round two. His best performance came in the quarterfinals when he blasted an 8.71 to stop Dave Barton's Dart. An 8.76 in the semi's was enough to hold off Dave Raybourn's 8.88.

Jeg Coughlin, near lane, defeated Rick Houser in the final round, 8.79 to 8.80.

After a quick break to make a pass in his Pro Stock car, Coughlin returned and finished the job by stopping Houser in the final.

"To tell you the truth, getting back in the Pro Stock car helped me with my focus for the final of the Hemi Challenge," said Coughlin. "The technique for this [Hemi] car is much different than anything I'm used to, so I really had to concentrate."

Throughout eliminations, the only driver who could match the performance of Coughlin and the West Coast Hemi's team was Charlie Westcott Jr. The former Comp ace, who defeated Holton earlier this year in a SS/AA event year at the inaugural NHRA Cajun SportsNationals, ran an 8.76 in his camouflaged War Fish Barracuda, but a broken transmission ended his day in the quarterfinals against Houser.

While Coughlin had never driven Holton's car, Houser, a former SS/AA class winner at Indy, had made just a couple of runs in Jim DeFrank's new California Car Covers Barracuda prior to heading for the "Big Go."

"A week ago we had our engine apart, so we really didn't get a chance to test," said Houser, a five-time national event winner in Super Stock and Comp. "The first full quarter-mile pass we made on this car was here on Wednesday. We made changes to the car on every run today and it responded every time. I just came up a little short in the final."

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