Mike Castellana got the first round win over Jay Payne, but was stopped short in the second round.  (Bob Johnson photo)

After qualifying third on the grid, Coughlin erased first-round foe Mike Janis Saturday evening with a stellar 5.827 at 253.75 mph. That set-up a second-round date Sunday morning with Castellana that put destiny in Coughlin's hands. All he had to do was beat the best driver in the class and then hold it all together for two more rounds and the championship would be his.

"We approached the day thinking, 'Let's just run the best that we can without over-powering the track and giving it away,'" Coughlin said. "We just focused on cutting good lights, making laps and turning on win lights."

There was no doubt about who won the final round.  (Bob Johnson photo)

(photo courtesy NHRA)

With pressure at its highest, Coughlin coolly responded with a huge, half-a-second victory over Castellana, then made light work of a red-lighting Danny Rowe and an out-of-shape Don Walsh to don the crown.

“We approached it like let’s go in and run as best as we can and not overpower the track and just take it one round at a time, just go up and make laps, get off the starting line on time and make some laps and turn the win lights on,” Coughlin said. “We came into this race with a brand new car, made a few laps and tested here last week in Vegas and it seemed to be OK, good enough to come to the race. All the guys back at JEGS have done a fabulous job with this thing and making my job really much simpler than in the past.”