Team Chevy's Jeg Coughlin Marches towards Pro Stock Title with Win at Las Vegas
Reigning Pro Stock Champ Virtually Assured Second Consecutive Crown
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/Jegs1w_413081.jpg" alt="Jegs1w_413081" align="right"borders="0"/>
LAS VEGAS, November 2, 2008 - Team Chevy's Jeg Coughlin Jr. all but clinched his second consecutive NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship and the fourth of his career by defeating Greg Stanfield in today's finals at the 8th annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coughlin qualified his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt No. 1 and drove past the Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP of Stanfield in the final round for his third win of the season and the 41st of his career. Coughlin had an elapsed time of 6.708 seconds at 205.07 mph as Stanfield had a red-light start in his fourth final-round of the season.
"(The win) definitely took a ton of pressure of our shoulders," Coughlin said. "Nearly a four-round lead is awesome. With the likes that are behind us, like Dave Connolly, my teammate, we knew certainly he was capable of winning. We couldn't take anything for granted."
With today's victory the 38-year-old Coughlin all but assured himself of back-to-back Pro Stock crowns to go with his 2000 and 2002 titles. He entered today's race as the points leader and increased his advantage over second-place Greg Anderson to 123 points, essentially just needing to qualify for the season-ending race at Pomona (Calif.) in two weeks for his second consecutive Pro Stock championship.
"Pro Stock is as treacherous as ever and this Countdown to 1 is definitely on," Coughlin said. "What an exciting finale it's been and going to be for all of the professional classes. This Pro Stock championship isn't 100% sealed, but I like our chances. Congratulations to the whole JEGS.com team; they did just a flawless job.
"The whole Cagnazzi Racing effort including Dave Connolly and the Charter Communications Chevy, we just couldn't ask for a better finish for this whole team. They've just performed flawlessly in this Countdown. We had some bugs, but we went testing in Tucson earlier in the week and then put this Chevy on the pole here at Las Vegas and got the win. What can I say? It's Las Vegas, so the party is on."
Regular-season points leader Anderson leads the Pro Stock class with five wins on the season, but the three-time Pro Stock champ hasn't been able to put it together in the Countdown to 1. Anderson qualified his Summit Racing Pontiac second to Coughlin and advanced to the semifinals before bowing out to runner-up Stanfield when Anderson spun the tires at the start. Stanfield had a winning elapsed time of 6.737 seconds at 204.39 mph as Anderson coasted to the finish line at 24.669 seconds at 26.11 mph.
"Coming into today we knew are odds were long of winning the championship," Anderson said, "but we had to win this race to have even a remote chance. It honestly doesn't matter what the other cars did and even what Jeg did, and he had a great day and is running great, running away with the points, but we can't seem to make it all day anymore.
"No matter what race we go to and what racetrack we go to, we're struggling. We're just a little off right now and we've got to figure out what we're doing wrong. We made it to the semifinals which is actually further than we've made it for a long time, but then we completely missed the racetrack after that. We're just not in that winning mode right now."
Despite missing the season's first five races because of sponsorship issues, Coughlin's Cagnazzi Racing teammate Dave Connolly saw his title aspirations dashed when he lost to Coughlin in the second round. Connolly entered today's race third in points, 79 points in arrears of Coughlin. Connolly qualified his Lucas Oil/Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt ninth and defeated Warren Johnson in Round 1 before facing off with Coughlin in Round 2. Coughlin narrowly got the better of his teammate with a winning elapsed time of 6.710 seconds at 204.70 mph to Connolly's 6.717 e.t. at 205.54 mph.
"We put ourselves in that position by struggling through qualifying," Connolly said, "and we just went up against the wrong guy. In all reality, that was the situation we wanted to be in. We wanted to have control over the situation. We just didn't do a good enough job. He did a better job and he deserved to win. We'll cheer him on and go to Pomona and try to win that race."
Connolly went to the final round an impressive eight times in his 18 races to date including a victory over Coughlin at the series' most recent race at Richmond. He has four wins, four runners-up and two No. 1 qualifiers on the season and goes into the season-ending race at Pomona fourth in the standings but just 20 points behind second-place Anderson.
"It's been a real good year, especially where we started from," Connolly said. "Now we are going to try and finish as high as we can. If things go right, Jeg and I will finish one and two."
In Funny Car, defending POWERade champion Tony Pedregon kept his slim title hopes alive by qualifying the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS fifth for today's eliminations and then advancing to the semifinal round before losing to runner-up Robert Hight. Pedregon defeated Bob Tasca III in Round 1 and Ashley Force in Round 2 before facing off against Hight in the semifinals. Hight drove his Ford to a winning elapsed time of 4.115 seconds at 298.80 mph to Pedregon's 4.151 e.t. at 300.53 mph. In the finals, Pedregon's brother, Cruz, defeated Hight and takes a 12-point lead over Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson to Pomona.
Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS has a class-leading six wins on the season and entered this weekend's event with a 51-point lead in the Funny Car standings, but a first-round loss to Mike Neff in Round 1 ate up all of that lead and then some. Neff had an elapsed time of 4.152 seconds at 294.95 mph as Wilkerson lost traction down track and slowed to a5.810 e.t. at 120.56 mph.
"I really wasn't trying that hard, to tell you the truth," Wilkerson said. "It just got out there and was moving pretty hard. I think it just got loose out there around 300 feet. (ESPN's) Dave Reiff and I were talking about it and he asked me where my trouble spot was; I told him I was getting after it in the middle. Obviously I was after it a little too much. The drama continues, right?"
In the Sportsman class, Dan Fletcher from Churchville, N.Y., drove his '08Chevy Cobalt to a win in Comp Eliminator and clinched the 2008 title. Fletcher also finished runner-up in his '69 Camaro to Anthony Bertozzi from Ashland, Va., who was driving a '98 Grand Am. In Super Gas, Brad Pierce from Riverside, Calif., won in his '58 corvette.
The final stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is also the sixth and final race for the Countdown to 1 playoffs, the 44th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.) on Nov. 13-16, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevy Cobalt), 6.708ET/205.07MPH
Runner-up - Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), Red Light
No. 1 Qualifier - Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevy Cobalt), 6.703ET(track
record)/205.47MPH
Low elapsed time - Jeg Coughlin Jr., 6.703 seconds
Top Speed - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 205.85MPH
Top 10 - 1. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 2,492; 2. Greg Anderson (Pontiac
GXP), 2,369; 3. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 2,354; 3. Dave Connolly (Chevy
Cobalt), 2,349; 5. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 2,314; 6. Jason Line (Pontiac
GXP), 2,311; 7. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 2,308; 8. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac
GXP), 2,276; 9. V. Gaines (Dodge), 2,202; 10. Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt),
2,125.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 4.100ET/304.67MPH
Runner-up - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.111ET/304.67MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.043ET/309.20MPH
Top 10 - 1. Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 2,449; 2. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala
SS), 2,437; 3. Robert Hight (Ford), 2,410; 4. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS),
2,387; 5. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 2,385; 6. Ashley Force (Ford), 2,329; 7.
John Force (Ford), 2,248; 8. Ron Capps (Dodge), 2,208; 9. Mike Neff (Ford),
2,206; 10. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala SS), 2,186.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Tony Schumacher, 3.806ET/314.53MPH
Runner-up - Rod Fuller, 3.821ET/315.19MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Tony Schumacher, 3.781ET/316.60MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 2,645 (2008 POWERade Champion); 2. Hillary
Will, 2,369; 3. Antron Brown, 2,360; 4. Cory McClenathan, 2,332; 5. Larry
Dixon, 2,328; 6. Rod Fuller, 2,275; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 2,273; 8. Doug
Herbert, 2,255; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2,177; 10. Dave Grubnic, 2,162.
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 266,000 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.
Photo courtesy Dave Kommel.
Reigning Pro Stock Champ Virtually Assured Second Consecutive Crown
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/Jegs1w_413081.jpg" alt="Jegs1w_413081" align="right"borders="0"/>
LAS VEGAS, November 2, 2008 - Team Chevy's Jeg Coughlin Jr. all but clinched his second consecutive NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship and the fourth of his career by defeating Greg Stanfield in today's finals at the 8th annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coughlin qualified his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt No. 1 and drove past the Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP of Stanfield in the final round for his third win of the season and the 41st of his career. Coughlin had an elapsed time of 6.708 seconds at 205.07 mph as Stanfield had a red-light start in his fourth final-round of the season.
"(The win) definitely took a ton of pressure of our shoulders," Coughlin said. "Nearly a four-round lead is awesome. With the likes that are behind us, like Dave Connolly, my teammate, we knew certainly he was capable of winning. We couldn't take anything for granted."
With today's victory the 38-year-old Coughlin all but assured himself of back-to-back Pro Stock crowns to go with his 2000 and 2002 titles. He entered today's race as the points leader and increased his advantage over second-place Greg Anderson to 123 points, essentially just needing to qualify for the season-ending race at Pomona (Calif.) in two weeks for his second consecutive Pro Stock championship.
"Pro Stock is as treacherous as ever and this Countdown to 1 is definitely on," Coughlin said. "What an exciting finale it's been and going to be for all of the professional classes. This Pro Stock championship isn't 100% sealed, but I like our chances. Congratulations to the whole JEGS.com team; they did just a flawless job.
"The whole Cagnazzi Racing effort including Dave Connolly and the Charter Communications Chevy, we just couldn't ask for a better finish for this whole team. They've just performed flawlessly in this Countdown. We had some bugs, but we went testing in Tucson earlier in the week and then put this Chevy on the pole here at Las Vegas and got the win. What can I say? It's Las Vegas, so the party is on."
Regular-season points leader Anderson leads the Pro Stock class with five wins on the season, but the three-time Pro Stock champ hasn't been able to put it together in the Countdown to 1. Anderson qualified his Summit Racing Pontiac second to Coughlin and advanced to the semifinals before bowing out to runner-up Stanfield when Anderson spun the tires at the start. Stanfield had a winning elapsed time of 6.737 seconds at 204.39 mph as Anderson coasted to the finish line at 24.669 seconds at 26.11 mph.
"Coming into today we knew are odds were long of winning the championship," Anderson said, "but we had to win this race to have even a remote chance. It honestly doesn't matter what the other cars did and even what Jeg did, and he had a great day and is running great, running away with the points, but we can't seem to make it all day anymore.
"No matter what race we go to and what racetrack we go to, we're struggling. We're just a little off right now and we've got to figure out what we're doing wrong. We made it to the semifinals which is actually further than we've made it for a long time, but then we completely missed the racetrack after that. We're just not in that winning mode right now."
Despite missing the season's first five races because of sponsorship issues, Coughlin's Cagnazzi Racing teammate Dave Connolly saw his title aspirations dashed when he lost to Coughlin in the second round. Connolly entered today's race third in points, 79 points in arrears of Coughlin. Connolly qualified his Lucas Oil/Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt ninth and defeated Warren Johnson in Round 1 before facing off with Coughlin in Round 2. Coughlin narrowly got the better of his teammate with a winning elapsed time of 6.710 seconds at 204.70 mph to Connolly's 6.717 e.t. at 205.54 mph.
"We put ourselves in that position by struggling through qualifying," Connolly said, "and we just went up against the wrong guy. In all reality, that was the situation we wanted to be in. We wanted to have control over the situation. We just didn't do a good enough job. He did a better job and he deserved to win. We'll cheer him on and go to Pomona and try to win that race."
Connolly went to the final round an impressive eight times in his 18 races to date including a victory over Coughlin at the series' most recent race at Richmond. He has four wins, four runners-up and two No. 1 qualifiers on the season and goes into the season-ending race at Pomona fourth in the standings but just 20 points behind second-place Anderson.
"It's been a real good year, especially where we started from," Connolly said. "Now we are going to try and finish as high as we can. If things go right, Jeg and I will finish one and two."
In Funny Car, defending POWERade champion Tony Pedregon kept his slim title hopes alive by qualifying the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS fifth for today's eliminations and then advancing to the semifinal round before losing to runner-up Robert Hight. Pedregon defeated Bob Tasca III in Round 1 and Ashley Force in Round 2 before facing off against Hight in the semifinals. Hight drove his Ford to a winning elapsed time of 4.115 seconds at 298.80 mph to Pedregon's 4.151 e.t. at 300.53 mph. In the finals, Pedregon's brother, Cruz, defeated Hight and takes a 12-point lead over Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson to Pomona.
Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS has a class-leading six wins on the season and entered this weekend's event with a 51-point lead in the Funny Car standings, but a first-round loss to Mike Neff in Round 1 ate up all of that lead and then some. Neff had an elapsed time of 4.152 seconds at 294.95 mph as Wilkerson lost traction down track and slowed to a5.810 e.t. at 120.56 mph.
"I really wasn't trying that hard, to tell you the truth," Wilkerson said. "It just got out there and was moving pretty hard. I think it just got loose out there around 300 feet. (ESPN's) Dave Reiff and I were talking about it and he asked me where my trouble spot was; I told him I was getting after it in the middle. Obviously I was after it a little too much. The drama continues, right?"
In the Sportsman class, Dan Fletcher from Churchville, N.Y., drove his '08Chevy Cobalt to a win in Comp Eliminator and clinched the 2008 title. Fletcher also finished runner-up in his '69 Camaro to Anthony Bertozzi from Ashland, Va., who was driving a '98 Grand Am. In Super Gas, Brad Pierce from Riverside, Calif., won in his '58 corvette.
The final stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is also the sixth and final race for the Countdown to 1 playoffs, the 44th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.) on Nov. 13-16, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevy Cobalt), 6.708ET/205.07MPH
Runner-up - Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), Red Light
No. 1 Qualifier - Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevy Cobalt), 6.703ET(track
record)/205.47MPH
Low elapsed time - Jeg Coughlin Jr., 6.703 seconds
Top Speed - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 205.85MPH
Top 10 - 1. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 2,492; 2. Greg Anderson (Pontiac
GXP), 2,369; 3. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 2,354; 3. Dave Connolly (Chevy
Cobalt), 2,349; 5. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 2,314; 6. Jason Line (Pontiac
GXP), 2,311; 7. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 2,308; 8. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac
GXP), 2,276; 9. V. Gaines (Dodge), 2,202; 10. Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt),
2,125.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 4.100ET/304.67MPH
Runner-up - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.111ET/304.67MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.043ET/309.20MPH
Top 10 - 1. Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 2,449; 2. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala
SS), 2,437; 3. Robert Hight (Ford), 2,410; 4. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS),
2,387; 5. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 2,385; 6. Ashley Force (Ford), 2,329; 7.
John Force (Ford), 2,248; 8. Ron Capps (Dodge), 2,208; 9. Mike Neff (Ford),
2,206; 10. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala SS), 2,186.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Tony Schumacher, 3.806ET/314.53MPH
Runner-up - Rod Fuller, 3.821ET/315.19MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Tony Schumacher, 3.781ET/316.60MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 2,645 (2008 POWERade Champion); 2. Hillary
Will, 2,369; 3. Antron Brown, 2,360; 4. Cory McClenathan, 2,332; 5. Larry
Dixon, 2,328; 6. Rod Fuller, 2,275; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 2,273; 8. Doug
Herbert, 2,255; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2,177; 10. Dave Grubnic, 2,162.
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 266,000 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.
Photo courtesy Dave Kommel.
