NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Troy Coughlin Sr. clinched his third J&A Service Pro Mod Series championship in dramatic fashion at the NHRA Toyota Nationals, beating his only title challenger, Mike Castellana, in a dramatic, head-to-head second-round encounter.

Coughlin got the lead at the start, then held on to outrun Castellana, 5.836 to 5.837.

“I had a lot of butterflies this morning,” Coughlin admitted. “To have the opportunity to win a championship like that is pretty awesome. We knew we had our hands full because [tuner] Frank Manzo is a multi-time champion and the whole Mike Castellana team is a five-star operation. The satisfaction of being the one to beat him is just huge There were no gimmees. It was a dogfight to the end.

“When I crossed the finish line and saw those [win lights] come on it was like a dream come true. This class is just getting tougher and tougher, so to win the championship in the fashion we did is just amazing and a testament to all of the people behind us at JEGS.com, ProLine Racing Engines, Mac Tools, Fueltech and all of our partners."

Coughlin, the defending event winner at the NHRA Toyota Nationals, has two victories and five final-round appearances over the past six races of the season. After chasing Castellana and his powerful Frank Manzo-tuned supercharged Camaro for most of the season, Coughlin and crew chief Steve Petty put their twin-turbo JEGS.com Chevrolet Corvette C7 into the top spot with a huge final-round victory over Khalid alBalooshi in St. Louis.

He reached his first final round of the season in Englishtown, the sixth event of the Pro Mod schedule. From there, he reached four-straight final rounds, winning his first race in Bristol (the seventh race on the schedule). Coughlin went on to win the 11th race on the schedule in St. Louis, one of six final round appearances on the season for the veteran Pro Mod driver. 

Coughlin previously won the championship in 2012 and 2015, and finished second in 2013, 2014, and 2016.

Castellana, runner-up behind Coughlin in the 2012 championship, had won twice earlier this year and went to four final rounds in the first five races but ran into a performance slump late in the season. His hot start included a runner up appearances at the season-opening event in Gainesville. 

The driver went on to win back-to-back races in Charlotte and Atlanta, the third and fourth events on the Pro Mod calendar. From there, Castellana went right back to a final round in Topeka. That incredible stretch came to a halt right when the performance of Coughlin picked up. He wasn't able to hang with the Jegs.com driver, eventually finishing in second in the Pro Mod standings. 

Coughlin finished as the runner up of the NHRA Toyota Nationals to Stevie "Fast" Jackson.