"Von is fast," Coughlin said. "He was faster than us and was driving a little bit better, so we knew we had to dig deep and get it tuned up a little bit. The track looked like it was going to take it. I was backing up from the burnout and I said, 'Let's try and leave with him because I know we can run with him.'

"When I put it in the second stage light, it was a little deep into it, so it probably killed another three-hundredths, but we had a good hot rod today, no doubt."

Smith had lane choice in the final, and Coughlin and his team, led by crew chief Steve Petty, were up to the task.

"Steve has done an awesome job on this thing all weekend," Coughlin said. "He's been keeping it consistent, keeping it fast, keeping it from having problems. He and Brian (Metzenhiem) and Kyle (Pettis) and Mike (Rees) were perfect. It was just a perfect weekend for us."

The NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series continues Aug. 27-Sept. 1 at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Danny Rowe was No. 1 qualifier at 5.875/248.57. He was Von Smith’s victim in the quarterfinals.

Pete Farber lasted until the semifinal against Von Smith. Farber's Daytona moved toward the wall and he had to back off the throttle to stay off the concrete.