NHRA

Phoenix: Jeg Coughlin Jr Friday notes

Top-three start for Pro Stock champion Coughlin PHOENIX (Feb. 20) -- A pair of solid runs on the opening day of qualifying for the 25th annual Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals ended with back-to-back Pro Stock champion a lofty third on the ...

Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:36 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Top-three start for Pro Stock champion Coughlin

PHOENIX (Feb. 20) -- A pair of solid runs on the opening day of qualifying for the 25th annual Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals ended with back-to-back Pro Stock champion a lofty third on the grid. Coughlin opened with a stout 6.624 at 208.33 mph in his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt to earn the spot. He later posted a 6.654 at 207.72 mph in the less favorable left-hand lane.

"No complaints," Coughlin said. "It's a good start to the race. I always like it when we open with a good run because it kind of relieves the pressure a bit, so to speak. The guys were certainly fired up for this race and ready to get after it and I believe that's why we ran so well right out of the trailer.

"We expected more out of the second run, to be honest. It didn't feel quite right so we'll dissect the data and see if we have an electrical or fuel issue. We thought we'd at least match the 6.62 from earlier, which would have been good in that lane, but we were dragging an anchor for some reason so we'll see how to reel that thing in."

After a rain-soaked season opener two weeks ago that stretched to six days, the entire professional field was all smiles Friday at Firebird International Raceway as the Valley of the Sun lived up to its billing with Chamber of Commerce weather. The high temperature of the day was a perfect 77 degrees.

"Ever since we won here back in 2000 I've always enjoyed our visits to Firebird," Coughlin said. "This is a beautiful part of the country and it's a real nice place to visit and to race. The forecast looks great for the whole weekend, which is perfect after Pomona. We all needed to dry out a bit.

"We'll get after it tonight over here at Victor Cagnazzi Racing and get set for another big day tomorrow. I'd like to see us run a better number and by all indications we should be able to do just that. We just need to get the car squared away, and we will."

-credit: team jegs

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 Larbre returns to GT1 competition with Saleen

Next article AUS GT3: Series Bathurst race one report

Top Comments

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

View More & Comment

Latest news

Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

7 h

Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027

Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 7 h

Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal

Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment

Ryan Preece will switch to No. 6 for 2027 NASCAR Cup season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

8 h

Ryan Preece will switch to No. 6 for 2027 NASCAR Cup season

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