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COUGHLIN SHOWS ‘EM HOW
Reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. picked up right where he left off last season by winning the third annual Pontiac Showdown test race Saturday night, Feb. 2, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The cash prize event is the final preseason test for professional drag racers before the season starts in Pomona.
The Pontiac Showdown doesn't reward points or count towards the 2008 championship, but the confidence and bragging rights gained at the event offers the winning team a huge boost of confidence heading into the regular season.
"We came out here, made 10 great passes, qualified No. 1 for the Pontiac Showdown against 18 other real good drivers, and we took home the trophy at the end of the day," Coughlin said. "I'd say that's a pretty good test. We're thrilled, and I'm especially happy for our team owner, Victor Cagnazzi, because he's been working around the clock to find a replacement sponsor for my teammate Dave Connolly so it's wonderful to give him this lift and bring some more attention to his awesome race team."
Coughlin's JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt was strong throughout testing. In Las Vegas, Coughlin had the quickest or second quickest car of every session, eventually earning the No. 1 position in the 16-car field with a Round 4 run of 6.685 seconds at 205.82 mph in Saturday's final qualifying round.
Coughlin’s qualifying run on Friday afternoon was the quickest and fastest pass in Pro Stock history at The Strip at LVMS (6.687 sec./206.16 mph). “We haven’t tested all season,” said Coughlin. “We came out Thursday, made two runs and we were the fastest car.”
“The track was a bit warmer today – all it needed was some heat,” Coughlin explained. “They did a great job preparing the track.
“We felt like our performance in two of the rounds today was not what we thought it should be, but the win light kept coming on. We did everything we could to keep the Dodges out of victory lane. This is pretty exciting.”