NHRA

Brainerd: Jeg Coughlin Friday summary

Coughlin crushes rivals, grabs No. 2 spot in field Turning in his best qualifying performance of the 2005 season, Jeg Coughlin has positioned his Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T in the No. 2 spot at the halfway point of professional qualifying ...

Published: Aug 13, 2005, 9:35 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Coughlin crushes rivals, grabs No. 2 spot in field

Turning in his best qualifying performance of the 2005 season, Jeg Coughlin has positioned his Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T in the No. 2 spot at the halfway point of professional qualifying for the 24th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Coughlin used the cooler evening session to clock a track-record 6.739-second pass at 204.82 mph, which was later bettered by just one other racer.

"We made two solid runs and we're right near the top of the charts," Coughlin said. "We're pretty happy. After the first session we were No. 9 with a 6.79 and we knew there was room for improvement. We wanted to get the car to repeat but also to go quicker. Bob [Glidden, crew chief] made some non-traditional changes and it liked it. I mean the No. 1 guy is just two hundredths better than us at this point."

Proving his Don Schumacher-owned racecar is ready for competition, Coughlin's teammate Richie Stevens backed up Coughlin's performance in his mirror-image Mopar Dodge Stratus R/T, running a 6.749 at 204.39 mph to put himself in third place overall.

"The track was absolutely gorgeous in both lanes," Coughlin said. "The air is always good here and it was cool enough today. We're not jumping up and down but we're pretty happy in this pit right now, on both sides."

Things could change dramatically in the final two qualifying rounds, which are schedule for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. The weather forecast calls for a slight cooling trend, placing a premium on the morning session.

"I think we'll see a bunch of cars in the 6.60s," Coughlin said. "We run at 10 a.m. and it should be perfect. I want us to improve by at least five hundredths. If we do, we'll be right there in the mix. This is pretty exciting for the fans. They're getting their money's worth today."

-www.teamjegs.com

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Brainerd: Jim Yates preview

Next article Brainerd: Tommy Johnson Jr Friday summary

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

4 h

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

4 h

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

5 h

Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss

NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

5 h

NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts