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POMONA, Calif., Feb. 5, 2008 - Three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. doesn't seem to be resting on last season's laurels as he prepares to defend his 2007 Pro Stock championship at this weekend's season-opening 48th annual CARQUEST NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway. The driver of the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt closed out the 2007Campaign with an exclamation point at this track just three short months ago at the NHRA Finals, claiming his fourth win of the season with a final-round victory over Pontiac rookie driver Justin Humphreys and the third NHRA Pro Stock crown of his career (2007, 2002, 2000).
Last weekend Coughlin and his Cagnazzi Racing team picked up where they left off with a win in the third annual Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a final test session and non-points competition for the Pro Stockers before kicking off the 24-event NHRA POWERade season at Pomona. Coughlin qualified his Chevy Cobalt No. 1 for the 16-car eliminator and then defeated Vinnie Deceglie in Round 1, V. Gaines in Round 2, cut a near-perfect .005 light for a holeshot win over Greg Anderson in the semifinals, and then bested Allen Johnson in the final round to start the 2008 race season with the Showdown victory.
"We haven't tested all season," Coughlin said. "The guys decided to just take all winter to rebuild the whole car from top to bottom, clean it up and make it as good as they could. We went through everything, putting in all new wiring, all new plumbing, and Roy and Dave and everybody at Cagnazzi Racing did a fantastic job. We put a fresh coat of paint on the car, it looks great, runs better, and we couldn't think of a better way to start the year than by giving Chevrolet a win in Las Vegas.
"Joe Hornick and Stevie Johns and everybody back at the engine shop has been working real hard, not only on our DRCE2 (Drag Racing Competition Engine, second generation) pieces, but from what I understand we've got our first DRCE3 engine on the dyno as we speak. So far, so good, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. We're excited. We're ready to start the new POWERade drag racing season in grand style. With the new Countdown to the Championship revised, adding Charlotte this year, there's a lot of pluses in the NHRA world and we can't wait to start with Q1 on Thursday. (Las Vegas) was a great way to start the season and hopefully we can carry that momentum on to Pomona."
Former NHRA Sport Compact Drag Racing Series Modified champion Justin Humphreys made a pretty seamless transition to the factory hot rods in his first full season of Pro Stock racing in 2007. The Maryland native took a rookie team and a rookie driver and qualified his RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac in only his third career race at Gainesville, posting career-best marks for time (6.634 seconds) and speed (208.71 mph) in the process. Humphreys went on to make semifinal appearances at St. Louis and Bristol before his first career final round against Coughlin at the season-ending NHRA Finals. The 30yyear-old Humphreys was recognized for his on-track exploits by being nominated for the 2007 Auto Club Road to the Future award along with eventual winner Ashley Force, fellow Pro Stockers Craig Hankinson and Matt Scranton, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Barry Henson.
"Last year was definitely exciting," Humphreys said. "(Pro Stock) is definitely a tough deal with a big learning curve to it. You can't afford to be off at all. You need to go out there and try and make four perfect runs just to qualify. We started off really slow, but it was exciting. A lot of fun, but a lot of work. Towards the end of the season things started to come around, so the hard work definitely paid off.
"We pretty much came into Pro Stock with our goal being to just try and qualify for two or three races over the year, and if we could do that we'd be more than happy. But then going to Gainesville and qualifying our third race really got us excited, and all of a sudden to team up with (engine builder)Richard Maskin and we knew we definitely had a better opportunity and a better shot of doing a whole lot more with the year. Actually, we're overly excited about how we ended up last year."
The addition of Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden as team consultant and crew chief for the last eight races of the year and the team's strong showing at Pomona has Humphreys excited about his sophomore season.
"We've done about two weeks of on-track testing in the past two months, and the guys have been up at Richard's shop seven days a week burning the dyno up," Humphreys said. "They made some improvements to help the engine life last a little longer and we definitely picked up some power.
"I'm pumped up and the whole team is excited. The Finals at Pomona was exciting for me, my family and all of my crew guys. I think Bob was just about in tears that we didn't win that race. But we ended last season on a really good note and hopefully we can start this season on a good note."
Three GM racers debuted the new Pontiac GXP Pro Stocker at Las Vegas, Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP, Jim Yates in his Wiley X Pontiac GXP, and Greg Stanfield in the Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP. All three drivers qualified for the 16-car field with Anderson and Stanfield both advancing to the semifinals.
"We're definitely gaining on it," Anderson said. "You do all your research and your work in the shop to get a new car figured out, but it never seems to work that way. They always need a little rubbing, and this car is certainly no different. Now, if we can keep stepping forward when we get to Pomona, we'll be happy."
"We ran pretty good (at Las Vegas)," Stanfield said. "It was a good race to see what we Had and to get everybody back into the swing of things. Jerry Bickel built us a new Pontiac GXP that seems to be getting better and better with each run. We're ready for Pomona."
In Funny Car, Tony Pedregon looks to defend his 2007 NHRA POWERade championship in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS. Pedregon won his second NHRA Funny Car crown in 2007 on the strength of four wins in five final-round appearances, including three wins in the season's last seven races. He won the NHRA Winternationals in 2003, the year of his first Funny Car championship, and has four career wins at Auto Club Raceway.
CARQUEST NHRA Winternationals GM RACING STATS AND FACTS
* Chevrolet won its 16th Manufacturers Cup in 2007, the most of any manufacturer in the history of the sport.
* By winning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock title, Coughlin joins Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, Greg Anderson, and Darrell Alderman as the only Pro Stock drivers in the history of the sport to win three or more championships.
* Coughlin's fourth win of the season and 38th of his career in last year's NHRA Finals at Pomona was Chevrolet's 147th all-time victory in the NHRA Pro Stock division.
* Led by the one-two Victor Cagnazzi Racing/Pro Stock combination of Dave Connolly and Jeg Coughlin, Chevrolets captured seven of the last eight Pro Stock races on the NHRA tour in 2007 with Pontiac driver Greg Anderson claiming the other win in that string at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
* Anderson's most recent win at Las Vegas on Oct. 28 was the 180th all time in NHRA Pro Stock for Pontiac, and the Summit Racing GXP driver has the most victories behind the wheel of a Pontiac with 49. Warren Johnson is next on the list with 42 wins in a Pontiac and Jim Yates is third with 25. All of Jim Yates career national-event victories have been in a Pontiac and all three drivers, Anderson, Johnson, and Yates, have won in a Firebird, a Grand Am and a GTO.
* Anderson tied Connolly for the class lead in wins with eight in 2007, giving him 51 for his career and moving him past Dave Schultz (45) and Don Prudhomme (49) on the all-time career wins list. He's currently sixth in all-time wins, one behind Joe Amato.
* Among active drivers, Pontiac's Warren Johnson has the most wins at the NHRA Winternationals with five (2003, 1997, 1993-94). Anderson is looking to drive his Pontiac to a third consecutive win at the Winternationals where he has won three of the last four (2007, 2006, 2004), sweeping both Pomona races in 2004 and 2006. Jim Yates in the Wiley X Pontiac GXP is a two-time winner here in 1996 and 1998. Mike Edwards' lone career win at Pomona came in November at the NHRA Finals in 1996.
* Coughlin leads the way for Team Chevy at the Winternationals with back-to-back wins in 1999 and 2000, and the defending Pro Stock champion also won the prestigious 50th anniversary race held at Pomona in 2001. Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt won this race in 2001.
* The Auto Club Raceway Pro Stock track record (6.634 seconds) is held by both Anderson and teammate Jason Line. Line's Pontiac established the mark at the NHRA Finals in November 2006 and Anderson's GTO tied the record at this event last year. Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac holds the current track speed record also set at last year's NHRA Winternationals with a run of209.04 mph.
* The 2007 NHRA POWERade FINAL Pro Stock Points Standings Top 10 - 1. Jeg Coughlin, (Chevy Cobalt), 3,217; 2. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GTO), 3,173; 3. Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt), 3,126; 4. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 3,086; 5. Jason Line (Pontiac GTO), 2,292; 6. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 2,278; 7. Larry Morgan (Dodge), 2,233; 8. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GTO), 2,180; 9. Richie Stevens (Dodge), 1,056; 10. Vieri Gaines (Dodge), 1,025
* The 2007 NHRA POWERade FINAL Funny Car Points Standings Top 10 - 1. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 3,178; 2. Robert Hight (Ford), 3,159; 3. Gary Scelzi (Dodge), 3,092; 4. Ron Capps (Dodge), 3,067; 5. Jack Beckman(Dodge), 2,358; 6. Mike Ashley (Dodge), 2,337; 7. John Force (Ford), 2,191; 8. Jim Head (Toyota), 2,163; 9. Del Worsham (Chevy Impala), 1,050; 10. Ashley Force (Ford), 960
Two hours of qualifying coverage of the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, Feb. 9, beginning at 8p.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on Sunday, Feb. 10, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and a telecast of final eliminations on the same network will start at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 274,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at GM General Motors Home Page.
GM Racers Prepare for Season-Opening NHRA Winternationals at Pomona
POMONA, Calif., Feb. 5, 2008 - Three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. doesn't seem to be resting on last season's laurels as he prepares to defend his 2007 Pro Stock championship at this weekend's season-opening 48th annual CARQUEST NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway. The driver of the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt closed out the 2007Campaign with an exclamation point at this track just three short months ago at the NHRA Finals, claiming his fourth win of the season with a final-round victory over Pontiac rookie driver Justin Humphreys and the third NHRA Pro Stock crown of his career (2007, 2002, 2000).
Last weekend Coughlin and his Cagnazzi Racing team picked up where they left off with a win in the third annual Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a final test session and non-points competition for the Pro Stockers before kicking off the 24-event NHRA POWERade season at Pomona. Coughlin qualified his Chevy Cobalt No. 1 for the 16-car eliminator and then defeated Vinnie Deceglie in Round 1, V. Gaines in Round 2, cut a near-perfect .005 light for a holeshot win over Greg Anderson in the semifinals, and then bested Allen Johnson in the final round to start the 2008 race season with the Showdown victory.
"We haven't tested all season," Coughlin said. "The guys decided to just take all winter to rebuild the whole car from top to bottom, clean it up and make it as good as they could. We went through everything, putting in all new wiring, all new plumbing, and Roy and Dave and everybody at Cagnazzi Racing did a fantastic job. We put a fresh coat of paint on the car, it looks great, runs better, and we couldn't think of a better way to start the year than by giving Chevrolet a win in Las Vegas.
"Joe Hornick and Stevie Johns and everybody back at the engine shop has been working real hard, not only on our DRCE2 (Drag Racing Competition Engine, second generation) pieces, but from what I understand we've got our first DRCE3 engine on the dyno as we speak. So far, so good, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. We're excited. We're ready to start the new POWERade drag racing season in grand style. With the new Countdown to the Championship revised, adding Charlotte this year, there's a lot of pluses in the NHRA world and we can't wait to start with Q1 on Thursday. (Las Vegas) was a great way to start the season and hopefully we can carry that momentum on to Pomona."
Former NHRA Sport Compact Drag Racing Series Modified champion Justin Humphreys made a pretty seamless transition to the factory hot rods in his first full season of Pro Stock racing in 2007. The Maryland native took a rookie team and a rookie driver and qualified his RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac in only his third career race at Gainesville, posting career-best marks for time (6.634 seconds) and speed (208.71 mph) in the process. Humphreys went on to make semifinal appearances at St. Louis and Bristol before his first career final round against Coughlin at the season-ending NHRA Finals. The 30yyear-old Humphreys was recognized for his on-track exploits by being nominated for the 2007 Auto Club Road to the Future award along with eventual winner Ashley Force, fellow Pro Stockers Craig Hankinson and Matt Scranton, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Barry Henson.
"Last year was definitely exciting," Humphreys said. "(Pro Stock) is definitely a tough deal with a big learning curve to it. You can't afford to be off at all. You need to go out there and try and make four perfect runs just to qualify. We started off really slow, but it was exciting. A lot of fun, but a lot of work. Towards the end of the season things started to come around, so the hard work definitely paid off.
"We pretty much came into Pro Stock with our goal being to just try and qualify for two or three races over the year, and if we could do that we'd be more than happy. But then going to Gainesville and qualifying our third race really got us excited, and all of a sudden to team up with (engine builder)Richard Maskin and we knew we definitely had a better opportunity and a better shot of doing a whole lot more with the year. Actually, we're overly excited about how we ended up last year."
The addition of Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden as team consultant and crew chief for the last eight races of the year and the team's strong showing at Pomona has Humphreys excited about his sophomore season.
"We've done about two weeks of on-track testing in the past two months, and the guys have been up at Richard's shop seven days a week burning the dyno up," Humphreys said. "They made some improvements to help the engine life last a little longer and we definitely picked up some power.
"I'm pumped up and the whole team is excited. The Finals at Pomona was exciting for me, my family and all of my crew guys. I think Bob was just about in tears that we didn't win that race. But we ended last season on a really good note and hopefully we can start this season on a good note."
Three GM racers debuted the new Pontiac GXP Pro Stocker at Las Vegas, Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP, Jim Yates in his Wiley X Pontiac GXP, and Greg Stanfield in the Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP. All three drivers qualified for the 16-car field with Anderson and Stanfield both advancing to the semifinals.
"We're definitely gaining on it," Anderson said. "You do all your research and your work in the shop to get a new car figured out, but it never seems to work that way. They always need a little rubbing, and this car is certainly no different. Now, if we can keep stepping forward when we get to Pomona, we'll be happy."
"We ran pretty good (at Las Vegas)," Stanfield said. "It was a good race to see what we Had and to get everybody back into the swing of things. Jerry Bickel built us a new Pontiac GXP that seems to be getting better and better with each run. We're ready for Pomona."
In Funny Car, Tony Pedregon looks to defend his 2007 NHRA POWERade championship in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS. Pedregon won his second NHRA Funny Car crown in 2007 on the strength of four wins in five final-round appearances, including three wins in the season's last seven races. He won the NHRA Winternationals in 2003, the year of his first Funny Car championship, and has four career wins at Auto Club Raceway.
CARQUEST NHRA Winternationals GM RACING STATS AND FACTS
* Chevrolet won its 16th Manufacturers Cup in 2007, the most of any manufacturer in the history of the sport.
* By winning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock title, Coughlin joins Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, Greg Anderson, and Darrell Alderman as the only Pro Stock drivers in the history of the sport to win three or more championships.
* Coughlin's fourth win of the season and 38th of his career in last year's NHRA Finals at Pomona was Chevrolet's 147th all-time victory in the NHRA Pro Stock division.
* Led by the one-two Victor Cagnazzi Racing/Pro Stock combination of Dave Connolly and Jeg Coughlin, Chevrolets captured seven of the last eight Pro Stock races on the NHRA tour in 2007 with Pontiac driver Greg Anderson claiming the other win in that string at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.
* Anderson's most recent win at Las Vegas on Oct. 28 was the 180th all time in NHRA Pro Stock for Pontiac, and the Summit Racing GXP driver has the most victories behind the wheel of a Pontiac with 49. Warren Johnson is next on the list with 42 wins in a Pontiac and Jim Yates is third with 25. All of Jim Yates career national-event victories have been in a Pontiac and all three drivers, Anderson, Johnson, and Yates, have won in a Firebird, a Grand Am and a GTO.
* Anderson tied Connolly for the class lead in wins with eight in 2007, giving him 51 for his career and moving him past Dave Schultz (45) and Don Prudhomme (49) on the all-time career wins list. He's currently sixth in all-time wins, one behind Joe Amato.
* Among active drivers, Pontiac's Warren Johnson has the most wins at the NHRA Winternationals with five (2003, 1997, 1993-94). Anderson is looking to drive his Pontiac to a third consecutive win at the Winternationals where he has won three of the last four (2007, 2006, 2004), sweeping both Pomona races in 2004 and 2006. Jim Yates in the Wiley X Pontiac GXP is a two-time winner here in 1996 and 1998. Mike Edwards' lone career win at Pomona came in November at the NHRA Finals in 1996.
* Coughlin leads the way for Team Chevy at the Winternationals with back-to-back wins in 1999 and 2000, and the defending Pro Stock champion also won the prestigious 50th anniversary race held at Pomona in 2001. Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt won this race in 2001.
* The Auto Club Raceway Pro Stock track record (6.634 seconds) is held by both Anderson and teammate Jason Line. Line's Pontiac established the mark at the NHRA Finals in November 2006 and Anderson's GTO tied the record at this event last year. Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac holds the current track speed record also set at last year's NHRA Winternationals with a run of209.04 mph.
* The 2007 NHRA POWERade FINAL Pro Stock Points Standings Top 10 - 1. Jeg Coughlin, (Chevy Cobalt), 3,217; 2. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GTO), 3,173; 3. Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt), 3,126; 4. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 3,086; 5. Jason Line (Pontiac GTO), 2,292; 6. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 2,278; 7. Larry Morgan (Dodge), 2,233; 8. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GTO), 2,180; 9. Richie Stevens (Dodge), 1,056; 10. Vieri Gaines (Dodge), 1,025
* The 2007 NHRA POWERade FINAL Funny Car Points Standings Top 10 - 1. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 3,178; 2. Robert Hight (Ford), 3,159; 3. Gary Scelzi (Dodge), 3,092; 4. Ron Capps (Dodge), 3,067; 5. Jack Beckman(Dodge), 2,358; 6. Mike Ashley (Dodge), 2,337; 7. John Force (Ford), 2,191; 8. Jim Head (Toyota), 2,163; 9. Del Worsham (Chevy Impala), 1,050; 10. Ashley Force (Ford), 960
Two hours of qualifying coverage of the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, Feb. 9, beginning at 8p.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on Sunday, Feb. 10, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and a telecast of final eliminations on the same network will start at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 274,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at GM General Motors Home Page.
