Mike Coughlin Columbus preview

Mike Coughlin looks for continued success at home track DELAWARE, Ohio -- Mike Coughlin has won two of his nine national event titles at National Trail Raceway and he considers the track to be his favorite, especially since it is located just a ...

Mike Coughlin looks for continued success at home track

DELAWARE, Ohio -- Mike Coughlin has won two of his nine national event titles at National Trail Raceway and he considers the track to be his favorite, especially since it is located just a few miles from his Delaware, Ohio home. Coughlin will be competing in the Super Comp division at the upcoming Pontiac Performance Nationals at National Trail Raceway but he won't be behind the wheel of his familiar Jeg's Mail Order dragster, but rather the new Chevy Cobalt he recently debuted. Coughlin built the car to run in the Top Sportsman division, but has elected to race it in Super Comp for this week's event.

"Top Sportsman isn't contested at this event so I decided to enter the car in Super Comp," said Coughlin, who won back to back titles in Columbus in 2002 and 2003. "I could easily have just raced my dragster but I'm still not totally familiar with this new Cobalt and the only way to get comfortable is to go out and make some runs. I could use the practice. I'm not racing for a championship, so this was a good way for me to just go out and have some fun. I could also have raced the Cobalt in Super Gas, but its better suited for Super Comp."

Though Coughlin's Jerry Bickel-built Cobalt is capable of running much quicker than the 8.90-second index used in Super Comp, it required only minor modifications in order to change classes.

"We installed a throttle stop and that was basically all we did," said Coughlin. "We tested it last week and it seemed to work very well. We were able to get the car slowed to consistent 8.90s and still run close to 185-mph, which is about what I had hoped it would run. With any luck, the extra speed will make it easier to judge my opponents at the finish line. Some people think you have to have a dragster to win in Super Comp, but years ago I race my old Dodge Daytona [in Super Comp] so I've done it before and had some success."

Coughlin will be joined in Columbus by his three brothers, John, Troy, and Jeg, who will each be racing in at least one NHRA Sportsman eliminator at their home track.

"It has been a long time since my brothers and I have all been racing at the same event and I'm really looking forward to it," said Coughlin. "I'm only planning on racing eight or nine times this year so I certainly wasn't going to miss our home race."