Troy Coughlin raced to the qualifying lead Friday (Aug. 29) in the Pro Mod Series portion of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the world’s most prestigious drag race.
Coughlin led the 34 cars attempting to qualify for one of 16 spots available for Sunday’s first round of eliminations with a performance of 5.945 seconds at 248.75 mph in his turbocharged JEGS.com Corvette.
“We’ve been testing a lot, and it’s been running pretty good,” Coughlin said. “Steve (Petty, crew chief) is just a mastermind at what he’s doing. As long as we don’t make any mistakes, man, it’ll run pretty good.”
After a relatively slow start to the season, the 2012 world champ won the most recent event in Norwalk, Ohio and is continuing his surge at this event.
“It’s been a pretty good day,” Coughlin said. “Jeggie’s (brother, Pro Stock driver) qualified in the middle of the pack, we ended up No. 1 and (son) T.J.’s won in Super Comp and Super Gas first round. Pretty good day for JEGS.com.”
Steven Whiteley was second with a 5.955 at 243.77 in his J&A Service/YNOT Racing ’68 Camaro, while former world champion Von Smith qualified third with a 5.955 at 241.97 in his Al-Anabi Racing ’69 Camaro.
Defending world champion and current points leader Rickie Smith qualified fourth in his nitrous-injected IDG Chevy Camaro with a performance of 5.985 at 243.68.
Defending U.S. Nationals Pro Mod winner Mike Janis, currently second in points, is outside the top 16 after the first session. The New York native sits 18th with a 6.166 at 239.82 in his Jan-Cen Racing late-model Camaro.
(Photo courtesy JEGS/Shute)
BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Friday’s results after the first one of four rounds of qualifying for the 60th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park at Indianapolis, the seventh of 10 events in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s eliminations.
Pro Modified
1. Troy Coughlin, Chevy Corvette, 5.945, 248.75; 2. Steven Whiteley, Chevy Camaro, 5.955, 243.77; 3. Von Smith, Camaro, 5.955, 241.97; 4. Rickie Smith, Camaro, 5.985, 243.68; 5. Bill Glidden, Ford Mustang, 5.995, 239.40; 6. Mike Castellana, Camaro, 6.001, 237.34; 7. Steve Matusek, Camaro, 6.011, 243.50; 8. Danny Rowe, Camaro, 6.027, 241.80; 9. Harold Martin, Corvette, 6.035, 242.19; 10. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.047, 242.15; 11. Dan Stevenson, Camaro, 6.048, 239.74; 12. Jim Laurita, Camaro, 6.050, 240.04; 13. Mike Knowles, Camaro, 6.057, 234.53; 14. Jim Bell, Camaro, 6.059, 241.07; 15. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, 6.073, 240.89; 16. Jimmy Keen, Corvette, 6.089, 235.68.
Not Qualified: 17. Jimmy Widener, 6.155, 231.20; 18. Mike Janis, 6.166, 239.82; 19. Chris Juliano, 6.260, 223.21; 20. Jason Hamstra, 6.275, 214.14; 21. Gerry Capano, 6.285, 232.47; 22. Kenny Lang, 6.359, 228.69; 23. Jim Whiteley, 6.622, 173.09; 24. Doug Winters, 6.688, 223.88; 25. Kevin Fiscus, 7.795, 146.34; 26. Chip King, 8.138, 127.15; 27. Jeff Naiser, 9.257, 99.74; 28.Michael Biehle, 9.302, 101.44; 29. Mark Martino, 11.056, 51.89; 30. Jay Payne, 13.443, 93.47; 31. Dave Pierce, 22.852, 34.23.