Sixth Englishtown trophy on Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s mind heading into race day

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 10) — Six-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. of Delaware, Ohio, will attempt to win for the sixth time at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park Sunday as the No. 6 qualifier in the Pro Stock field. Coughlin’s best pass of 6.589 seconds at 210.64mph earned him the top-half starting slot in his JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro.

“It’s kinda the dog days of summer here now,” said Coughlin who has qualified in the top half of the field at all 10 national events this year. “We definitely are on a tough stretch of races with Epping last weekend, Englishtown this weekend, and then Bristol and Norwalk all in a row so you have to stay on your toes.

“We didn’t make as good of runs during the first two sessions on Friday as we would have liked and that put us a little behind. The heat out there today made it a tougher to improve but there was still some room to move up, and we liked what we did, especially in Q3. We’ll analyze that data and show up ready
to race.”

In the modified 14-car elimination ladder to be utilized this weekend at the 48th annual NHRA Summernationals, Coughlin will open race day action opposite No. 9 qualifier Erica Enders, his Elite Motorsports teammate, who had a best pass of 6.598 at 210.54 mph. This will be the first time the two world champions have faced each other this season.

“This is the same scenario as last weekend when I squared off with my other teammate Vincent Nobile in Epping, only this time it’s Erica,” Coughlin said. “It’s not what you want, especially in Round 1, because someone will be knocked out of the race, but when you have a multi-car team it happens. You just have to go out there and race to the best of your abilities and see who wins.

“Erica won the race last weekend, including taking a couple rounds on holeshots, so she’s dialed in. We’ll do our best against her. Our JEGS Camaro drove down both lanes really well today so we should be able to give the fans a great race.”

Previously in Englishtown, Coughlin has claimed four Pro Stock trophies, in 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2014, to go with one Super Gas title earned in 1997. He also finished second in Pro Stock at this event in 2002 and 2007.

“Honestly, we have a solid top-five car here without question,” said Coughlin, who entered the weekend ranked fifth overall “We’ve had some great opportunities to capitalize on things earlier this year and maybe missed those chances but we’ve also capitalized on a few where maybe we shouldn’t have. That’s just the way it works.”

Pro Stock eliminations will begin at noon, Sunday. FOX Sports 1 will feature live elimination coverage from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Sunday. There also will be an elimination show running from 6-7:30 p.m., Sunday evening. (Times are local and subject to change.)