[coverattach=1]DELAWARE, Ohio (Jan. 27) -- Veteran drag racer Troy Coughlin will race for two world championships in 2009 and with a massive 830 cubic inch powerplant under the hood of his brand-new Jerry Haas-built JEGS.com Pontiac GXP, he's certainly going to have the horsepower to get it done.
Coughlin plans to contest the National Muscle Car Association's Pro Street category as well as the American Drag Racing League's Extreme Pro Stock class. The classes are similar enough that he can use the same racecar in both sanctions, and with only one conflicting date between the NMCA and ADRL, he'll have a chance to race in 16 of 17 events.
"I just sat in this beautiful new racecar and all the memories of my 10-plus years in Pro Stock came flooding back," Coughlin said. "There's something about a gasoline-powered car and a five-speed transmission that just does it for me. I can't wait to get started."
The quickest and fastest class in NMCA competition, Pro Street will test Coughlin and his rivals over a quarter-mile racetrack. Pro Street cars are capable of running 6.2-second elapsed times at 220-plus mph. The 2009 Edelbrock NMCA Pro Racing Series will feature seven events in the following locations, Bradenton, Fla., Bowling Green, Ky., Reading, Pa., Joliet, Ill., Charlotte, N.C., Milan, Mich., and Memphis, Tenn.
"My good friend Charlie Harmon runs the series and he's got some of the old NHRA people we all love like Lynwood Dupuy over there helping him run the events," Coughlin said. "We've already had a good measure of success in NMCA, we ran part-time in 2005 and came in ninth and got after it in 2006 and finished second so we know what it's all about. There are some great racers over there but we're gonna give 'em a run."
ADRL races are run over an eighth-mile surface, where Coughlin's car will post numbers in the 4.0-second range at speeds of 180 mph. The National Guard ADRL series hosts 10 events in Houston, Memphis, Tenn., Martin, Mich., St. Louis, Radford and Richmond, Va., Columbus, Ohio, Rockingham, N.C., and Dallas, plus one yet-to-be-announced location.
"The ADRL has really grown into a neat deal and when they added Extreme Pro Stock this off-season it was too tempting to pass up," Coughlin said. "You go to their events and see all these cars you would never imagine going as fast as they go, racing down the track. It's so cool."
As always, crewmen Bryan Metzenheim, Clint Allerton and Mike Rees will assist Coughlin throughout the year.
"We're planning a trip to Palm Beach International Raceway to test as soon as the car is completely put together," Coughlin said. "We want to be totally up to speed when the two schedules start. This is going to be an exciting year for JEGS racing."
Coughlin plans to contest the National Muscle Car Association's Pro Street category as well as the American Drag Racing League's Extreme Pro Stock class. The classes are similar enough that he can use the same racecar in both sanctions, and with only one conflicting date between the NMCA and ADRL, he'll have a chance to race in 16 of 17 events.
"I just sat in this beautiful new racecar and all the memories of my 10-plus years in Pro Stock came flooding back," Coughlin said. "There's something about a gasoline-powered car and a five-speed transmission that just does it for me. I can't wait to get started."
The quickest and fastest class in NMCA competition, Pro Street will test Coughlin and his rivals over a quarter-mile racetrack. Pro Street cars are capable of running 6.2-second elapsed times at 220-plus mph. The 2009 Edelbrock NMCA Pro Racing Series will feature seven events in the following locations, Bradenton, Fla., Bowling Green, Ky., Reading, Pa., Joliet, Ill., Charlotte, N.C., Milan, Mich., and Memphis, Tenn.
"My good friend Charlie Harmon runs the series and he's got some of the old NHRA people we all love like Lynwood Dupuy over there helping him run the events," Coughlin said. "We've already had a good measure of success in NMCA, we ran part-time in 2005 and came in ninth and got after it in 2006 and finished second so we know what it's all about. There are some great racers over there but we're gonna give 'em a run."
ADRL races are run over an eighth-mile surface, where Coughlin's car will post numbers in the 4.0-second range at speeds of 180 mph. The National Guard ADRL series hosts 10 events in Houston, Memphis, Tenn., Martin, Mich., St. Louis, Radford and Richmond, Va., Columbus, Ohio, Rockingham, N.C., and Dallas, plus one yet-to-be-announced location.
"The ADRL has really grown into a neat deal and when they added Extreme Pro Stock this off-season it was too tempting to pass up," Coughlin said. "You go to their events and see all these cars you would never imagine going as fast as they go, racing down the track. It's so cool."
As always, crewmen Bryan Metzenheim, Clint Allerton and Mike Rees will assist Coughlin throughout the year.
"We're planning a trip to Palm Beach International Raceway to test as soon as the car is completely put together," Coughlin said. "We want to be totally up to speed when the two schedules start. This is going to be an exciting year for JEGS racing."
