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Quarterfinal finish highlights
John Coughlin’s weekend
NORWALK, OHIO (July 1) – Team JEGS driver John Coughlin drove his Chevy Cobalt to a quarterfinal finish in the Super Stock category during yesterday’s NHRA national event in Norwalk, Ohio. Coughlin qualified in the No. 1 position in the 79-car field and won four elimination rounds before losing a close battle to Mike Walter of Paris, Ohio. Coughlin matched his dial-in time of 8.67-seconds but Walter, who went on to win the event, had the quicker reaction time on the starting line, and held on for the victory.
“It was a close race, but I just didn’t have enough to beat him,” said Coughlin. “Hats off to Mike, he did a heck of a job today. He was driving well and deserved to get the win.
“Sure, I don’t like to get beat, but overall I’m pretty happy with the way our Jegs Mail Order Cobalt performed this weekend. This is still a new car and with each passing week, I feel more and more comfortable and while we didn’t win this race, we did learn a lot and we also picked up some valuable points.”
The quarterfinal finish was the best showing in four starts for Coughlin’s new Cobalt, which was constructed by B&B Race Cars. His only other NHRA national event appearance resulted in a round three finish at the JEGS.com NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La.
“I said before this race that we still have time to make a run at the national championship and I still believe it,” Coughlin said. “This weekend was a good start. Now if we can just string together a few more races like this one we’ll be in good shape.”
Coughlin wins class and qualifies No. 1 in Super Stock
Photo by Dave Kommel at autoimagery.com.
NORWALK, Ohio (June 29) – There are 79 Super Stock drivers competing in this weekend’s NHRA national event in Norwalk, Ohio, and none of them are quicker than John Coughlin. The Team JEGS driver drove his JEGS Mail Order Cobalt to the top of the qualifying chart with a run of 8.686 seconds at 155.31 mph, more than a full second under the 9.95 SS/BM index. Coughlin also won one of the prestigious NHRA Wally trophies after winning the SS/BM class during Friday’s class eliminations.
“We’ve had a good start to the weekend and we’ve got some momentum going. Hopefully we can keep it up,” said Coughlin. “My JEGS Cobalt has been running exceptionally well lately so I figured that we would be able to qualify well, but I’m not sure I expected the No. 1 spot. With an odd number of cars in the field, I should also get a buy run in the first round of eliminations and that’s always a nice bonus to have.”
This weekend’s event marks the first trip to Norwalk for the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The popular track, which is located approximately 100 miles from the JEGS Mail Order headquarters in Delaware, Ohio, recently underwent a $6 million renovation.
“I’ve always enjoyed racing in Norwalk and with the recent improvements, I’d have to say this is one of the best tracks in the country,” Coughlin continued. “It would be very special to win the inaugural NHRA national event here.”
The first round of Super Stock eliminations are scheduled for Saturday, June 30. Final eliminations for the Norwalk race will be held Sunday, July 1.
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