Seattle: Jeg Coughlin Friday summary

Jeg Coughlin in good spot to take a big shot at Seattle

Following a familiar pattern, Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin opened a race weekend with two progressively quicker elapsed times in Friday's first two time trail sessions of the 18th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. The Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T driver started his weekend at Pacific Raceways with a 6.42-second pass at 204.32 mph before improving to a 6.723 at 204.79 mph in the cooler evening round to finish the day a solid ninth in the standings.

"We started off pretty well and were No. 5 after the first session," Coughlin said. "We really got after it tonight and we did manage to improve but we didn't get the E.T. we wanted and ended up slipping down to ninth. It's a good position to be in when you're slightly disappointed with being ninth in this class.

"Tomorrow morning we run early and in my opinion that will be the premier session of qualifying for our class. It should be cool and dry, which is absolutely perfect for these pro Stock cars. We saw both track records fall tonight and they could be in serious jeopardy tomorrow. I hope we can make a good run and improve our spot."

Coughlin's teammate Richie Stevens, who pilots an identically-prepared Stratus, drove under the old track elapsed time record of 6.699 seconds with a lightning-quick 6.691 at 205.82 mph. Since the two crews share data, Coughlin is hopeful that the information Stevens gained will help his hot rod go quicker.

"The two-car team approach has served us well this year," Coughlin said. "It's exciting to see Richie run well because I know our two teams will be able to pour over that data and make both of our cars quicker."

The Pro Stock set will get another chance at Pacific Raceways at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The conditions are expected to be optimal.

-www.teamjegs.com