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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (April 16) – Having been given an extra week to prepare courtesy of a weather-related delay, Team JEGS drivers John and Mike Coughlin are anxious to kick off the 2008 North Central Division season during this weekend’s Lucas Oil Series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The Coughlin brothers, who each won a Division 3 championship last season, will once again be competing in three classes; John in Top Dragster and Super Stock and Mike in Top Sportsman.
“I had a chance to race in Orlando [Fla.] a few weeks ago just to shake off some of the rust so I’m feeling pretty comfortable right now,” said John. “I have a new Undercover Chassis dragster that I’m racing in Top Dragster and it has already shown a lot of promise. I’ve also got my Chevy Cobalt in Super Stock and it’s already proven itself as a great race car. I just need to do my part as a driver and we’ll be successful.”
Mike Coughlin recently made his 2008 season debut at the recent JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La., and although he lost early in eliminations, he was very encouraged by the results.
“We made a few changes to my JEGS.com Cobalt this winter in an effort to improve our performance,” Mike said. “We were successful in that we were able to make the car quite a bit quicker than it was last season without sacrificing any of the consistency that helped us win the 2007 Top Sportsman championship.”
Both Coughlin brothers are hoping to duplicate or even exceed the results of their 2007 campaign which included a combined total of seven divisional wins. Mike dominated the Top Sportsman series, winning the championship by a landslide. John also claimed the Top Dragster title by a wide margin and came within a few rounds of winning the Super Stock title, finishing second to Nick Morris.
“Mike and I did have a lot of success last year and we enjoyed every minute of it,” said John. “We’ll always have a lot of great memories from last season but its 2008 and now our focus needs to be on what we’re going to do this year. If anything, it has gotten harder to win, not easier so we’ve got to put forth some extra effort if we want to defend our championship. As far as we’re concerned, all the heavy lifting starts this weekend at Indy.”
Historically, the Coughlin brothers have done well at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Mike is a two-time winner of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in the Pro Stock Truck class and was runner-up at the track’s Lucas Oil Series event in 1997. John was runner-up in Pro Stock Truck at the 2000 U.S. Nationals and also won NHRA’s biggest event as a car owner with 2005 Super Comp champ Brad Plourd. In addition, John claimed the Super Gas title at the 1994 Lucas Oil Series event at ORP.
Coughlin brothers primed and ready for Division 3 opener
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (April 16) – Having been given an extra week to prepare courtesy of a weather-related delay, Team JEGS drivers John and Mike Coughlin are anxious to kick off the 2008 North Central Division season during this weekend’s Lucas Oil Series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The Coughlin brothers, who each won a Division 3 championship last season, will once again be competing in three classes; John in Top Dragster and Super Stock and Mike in Top Sportsman.
“I had a chance to race in Orlando [Fla.] a few weeks ago just to shake off some of the rust so I’m feeling pretty comfortable right now,” said John. “I have a new Undercover Chassis dragster that I’m racing in Top Dragster and it has already shown a lot of promise. I’ve also got my Chevy Cobalt in Super Stock and it’s already proven itself as a great race car. I just need to do my part as a driver and we’ll be successful.”
Mike Coughlin recently made his 2008 season debut at the recent JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La., and although he lost early in eliminations, he was very encouraged by the results.
“We made a few changes to my JEGS.com Cobalt this winter in an effort to improve our performance,” Mike said. “We were successful in that we were able to make the car quite a bit quicker than it was last season without sacrificing any of the consistency that helped us win the 2007 Top Sportsman championship.”
Both Coughlin brothers are hoping to duplicate or even exceed the results of their 2007 campaign which included a combined total of seven divisional wins. Mike dominated the Top Sportsman series, winning the championship by a landslide. John also claimed the Top Dragster title by a wide margin and came within a few rounds of winning the Super Stock title, finishing second to Nick Morris.
“Mike and I did have a lot of success last year and we enjoyed every minute of it,” said John. “We’ll always have a lot of great memories from last season but its 2008 and now our focus needs to be on what we’re going to do this year. If anything, it has gotten harder to win, not easier so we’ve got to put forth some extra effort if we want to defend our championship. As far as we’re concerned, all the heavy lifting starts this weekend at Indy.”
Historically, the Coughlin brothers have done well at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Mike is a two-time winner of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in the Pro Stock Truck class and was runner-up at the track’s Lucas Oil Series event in 1997. John was runner-up in Pro Stock Truck at the 2000 U.S. Nationals and also won NHRA’s biggest event as a car owner with 2005 Super Comp champ Brad Plourd. In addition, John claimed the Super Gas title at the 1994 Lucas Oil Series event at ORP.
