The father and son Coughlin Pro Mods.


T.J. Coughlin set Top Speed.

After the first round all the races were won by racers who chose the left hand lane. In the semifinals Glidden must have figured he was in trouble racing T.J. Coughlin. Glidden had a stellar .003 RT combined with a career best 5.884/244.12 effort that trailered RPM rookie T.J., who had a respectable but losing 5.923/251.06 out the back door effort. Coughlin Jr. did set Top Speed of the meet for Pro Mods on that losing lap.                     

Conclusion

The NHRA Pro Mods continue to be the single most entertaining doorslammer class on the NHRA menu. They are unpredictable, outrageous, dangerous, and all but disavowed by the NHRA PR machine. The drivers in the Pro Mod class aren’t even eligible for the “Rookie of the Year” award because the Pro Mod series isn’t part of the Mello Yello series.

The RPM Pro Mod series is the only professional class that always has 27 or more entries that can qualify for the 16-car RPM field. Maybe the ESPN2 broadcast might pull better audience numbers if the most popular doorslammer class in drag racing were part of it.

Pro Modified Championship Points after Houston
1. Don Walsh, 176; 2. Troy Coughlin Jr., 148; 3. Bill Glidden, 144; 4. Bob Rahaim, 143; 5. Pete Farber, 128; 6. Troy Coughlin, 126; 7. Mike Janis, 104; 8. Mike Castellana, 90; 9. Rickie Smith, 88; 10. Eric Latino, 83.