Team Mopar NHRA Pro Stock Driver Coughlin Races to Runner-up Finish, Eighth Career Final at Vegas
· Jeg Coughlin Jr. drives his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Dart Pro Stock car to a 99th career final and sixth this season at the NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas
· Hagan follows up the first-ever three-second run at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during qualifying with a semifinals finish in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
· 2011 NHRA Funny Car title winner Hagan will take a 21-point lead into the season-ending NHRA Winternationals
· Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart driver Allen Johnson falls in an all-Mopar quarterfinals fight with Coughlin
Las Vegas (November 2, 2014) – Jeg Coughlin Jr. led the Team Mopar contingent in eliminations on Sunday at the NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas, racing his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Dart to the runner-up spot and an eighth career final-round appearance at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the NHRA Funny Car class, Vegas semifinalist and Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T driver Matt Hagan will head to the final event of the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs holding a 21-point lead over the second-place John Force as he fights to bring home his second overall Funny Car crown for the Mopar brand.
No. 3 qualifier and defending NHRA Pro Stock champ Coughlin earned lane choice for an all-Mopar showdown in the quarterfinals against teammate Allen Johnson after using a quicker 6.596/208.91 mark to knock off Aaron Stanfield (6.670/206.76) in the opening round. Johnson, No. 6 starter in his Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart, posted a 6.608/208.65 to get past Chris McGaha (6.635/208.01) in round one. In the HEMI vs. HEMI battle, Coughlin motored to the win with a 6.626/208.14 run after Johnson got out of the groove early and slowed.
In the semifinals against Shane Gray, Coughlin was quicker off the starting line with a .012 reaction time and never looked back with a quicker and faster 6.605/208.46 effort to Gray’s 6.647/208.26. In his 99th career final round and sixth this season, Coughlin fell short in his bid for a sixth career Vegas win, with his more-than-respectable 6.596/209.14 effort not enough to overcome event winner Erica Enders-Stevens’ 6.587/209.36.
“I feel fantastic about our day because we’ve had a really good car since making some changes during qualifying in St. Louis,” said Coughlin, who moved into a tie for fifth in the standings with teammate Johnson after his strong Vegas outing. “The Dodge Dart has been really nice to drive, fast and efficient, but with their strong elapsed time and Erica (Enders-Stevens’) reaction time, we just got beat in the final.
“It was a monumental win for us just to work our way to having a day like today. We have one race left to cross the finish line first in the final, which would be my 100th, and I’ve been knocking on the door of my 75th race career win, so I would love nothing more to ring the year out in that fashion.”
“Lane choice got us,” said Johnson of his second-round duel with Coughlin. “It’s disappointing, because it pretty much puts us out of the running for the world championship, but we’ll take our Dodge Dart to Pomona and see how far up the points we can move. Hopefully, third place will still be in our sights and we’ll work our butts off trying to get there.”
Mopar-powered Dodge Pro Stocker V. Gaines was near-perfect on the tree with a .003-reaction time in the first round, but was beat to the stripe by an agonizing seven thousands of a second by Dave Connolly, losing with a 6.647/207.75 to Connolly’s 6.601/209.07.
No. 1 qualifier Hagan put his name in the record books on Saturday with his 3.983-second elapsed time, the sixth quickest in NHRA history and the first-ever three-second run at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 2011 NHRA Funny Car champ hoped to make his Sunday even more memorable and got off to a great start with a winning 4.073/314.24 first-round run against opponent Terry Haddock (12.197/80.07).
Hagan faced a Mopar vs. Mopar matchup against No. 8 starter and fellow Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Tommy Johnson Jr. in the quarterfinals, recording low ET of the round with a 4.064/314.09 to best his teammate’s 4.115/307.72. Hagan left first in the semis against Del Worsham and briefly held the lead, but was undone by Worsham’s 4.059/315.71 pass — low ET of the entire eliminations — to Hagan’s 4.091/315.71.
“It’s going to come down to Pomona,” said Hagan, who saw Force narrow the gap a bit in the championship standings heading into the season finale. “I’m used to that. I’ve been there. When we won it in 2010, it was in the semifinals of the last race. Sometimes it comes down to the final. It’s nothing that we can’t handle. I still have 100 percent confidence in my guys, in Dickie (Venables, Hagan’s crew chief). We just have to go out there and race.
“We have a helluva car, a helluva team. We just have to go work hard and not make any mistakes and capitalize on it if they do. It’s human nature, you want to go out here and spread the gap. There’s no doubt about that, we want to win and have it wrapped up, but that’s just not typically how it happens. I’m ready for it; I know our guys are. We have to go work hard, dig deep and make it happen.”
No. 4 qualifier Ron Capps opened Sunday in his DSR Dodge Charger R/T with a 4.145/313.00 defeat of Tony Pedregon (10.046/82.35), but his hopes of a Vegas win ended in round two with Worsham’s winning 4.092/315.19 to Capps’ 4.138/315.71.
Paul Lee pulled off a monster upset from the 14th spot in the opening round, ending No. 3 qualifier and Funny Car title contender Courtney Force’s day after crossing the finish line first in his Dodge with a 4.118/306.88 to his foe’s 4.148/305.77. He was unable to make it two in a row, losing to Robert Hight. DSR Dodge driver Jack Beckman (4.210/268.22) exited in round one against Hight (4.091/315.64), as did Jeff Arend (12.355/71.81) against Worsham (4.110/309.63).