Gainesville: Jeg Coughlin final summary

Fast car doesn't carry Coughlin to victory

Jeg Coughlin had the car to beat first-round opponent Jim Yates Sunday morning at the 36th annual NHRA Gatornationals in Florida. Unfortunately, Yates had a better reaction time, which sent 2001 Gainesville champion Coughlin home before he was ready.

Coughlin posted the second quickest pass of the opening session at a sun-baked Gainesville Raceway -- a 6.700-second run at 205.52 mph. But Yates had gotten an early jump at the Christmas Tree, posting a quick .025-second reaction time to Coughlin's average .050 start, and the advantage was just enough to give him the win by a scant nine-thousandths of a second, or a distance of three feet. It was the closest race of the entire professional elimination session.

"I just let one go today," Coughlin said. "I had a good car, the second quickest of the entire round behind Greg Anderson's 6.67, and I didn't get it done at the start. We probably could have cleaned it up and run a number like Greg's, which could have made the difference. But we were quicker than our opponent so we feel like we should have come away from the round with a win.

"There's still a lot to be excited about. We really feel like we turned a corner with our program and things are looking stronger than ever before. We'll get this big, bad Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T ready for Houston and we'll go in there looking for our first win of the 2005 season."

A 34-year-old from Delaware, Ohio, Coughlin has fared very well at Houston Raceway Park in the past, winning in 2000, 1998, and 1997. Last year Coughlin raced to the semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Anderson.

-jegs-