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Coughlin team heads south to continue championship quest REYNOLDS, Ga. (Oct 16) -- As part of his ongoing quest to capture the 2009 NHRA North Central Division Dart Top Sportsman series championship, Mike Coughlin will bring his JEGS.com Chevy ...

Edited: Oct 17, 2009, 1:54 AM

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Coughlin team heads south to continue championship quest

REYNOLDS, Ga. (Oct 16) -- As part of his ongoing quest to capture the 2009 NHRA North Central Division Dart Top Sportsman series championship, Mike Coughlin will bring his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, Ga., for this weekend's Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event. Mike is the current point leader in Top Sportsman and can clinch his second title in three years by reaching the final round. He will also win the title if his closest rival, Ricky Adkins of Milan, Mich., does not win the event.

"Overall, we feel pretty good about wherewe stand but you are never totally sure until it's over," said Mike. "If we have done our math correctly, Ricky [Adkins] has to win the race in order to pass me but he's a good racer who is certainly capable of doing that sowe feel like our best strategy is to try and pick up some more points if at all possible.We still have two races left wherewe can earn points so we might as well use them. You never know when you might need an extra round win.

"The weather forecast for this weekend is good but it should be cool and dry which means the track should be very fast," Mike continued. "There are also a lot of very competitive cars here so it should be a fun race."

Joining Mike at the Reynolds event will be his nephew, third-generation racer Troy Coughlin Jr., or T.J, who will be behind the wheel of his JEGS Mail Order Super Comp dragster. T.J. turned in one of his best performances to date at last weekend's NHRA Virginia Nationals in Richmond when he reached the semifinal round. Although he currently sits 26th in the North Central Division Super Comp standings, he can move into the top ten with a strong finish.

"I thoughtwe were going to get it done last weekend in Richmond butwe came up a few thousandths [of a second] short," said T.J. "Unfortunately, that's how Super Comp racing usually is; you often win or lose by a few thousandths but I feel really good about my driving.We need to have another good race this weekend sowe can finish in the top ten. This is my first full year in this class so I think that would be an awesome achievement."

If the Coughlin's are unable to achieve their individual goals at this weekend's race, they will have another chance to do so at the final 2009 NHRA Lucas Oil Series event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Nov. 5-8. Mike and T.J. will be joined at that event by Mike's brother, John, who is the current leader in the North Central Division Top Dragster class.

"If things don't work out for us this weekend at Silver Dollar, we will try again in Las Vegas in a few weeks," Mike said. "Of course,we are hoping that the championship will be wrapped up by then and T.J will be solidly in the top ten so we can use the Las Vegas trip as a victory celebration."

-credit: team jegs

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