CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
MAGIC DRY ORGANIC ABSORBENT NHRA ARIZONA NATIONALS
WILD HORSE PASS MOTORSPORTS PARK IN CHANDLER, ARIZONA
POST-RACE RECAP AND WINNER TRANSCRIPT
SUNDAY, FEB. 24, 2019
Chevrolet drivers score major victories in the desert
• Jeg Coughlin Jr. earns 62nd Pro Stock victory in 1,000th career round
• No. 1 Funny Car qualifier, semifinalist Robert Hight retains points lead
• Top Fuel rookie Austin Prock picks up round win in second consecutive race
CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 24, 2019) – Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s 1,000th National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock elimination round came with a bonus.
The five-time Pro Stock champion earned his 62nd career victory in 108 finals by defeating hometown racer Matt Hartford in the final of the Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.
Coughlin, driving the JEGS.com/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, last won the Pro Stock event at the racetrack in suburban Phoenix in 2009. He is fourth in career Pro Stock victories and tied Top Fuel ace Larry Dixon for eighth on the all-time NHRA list. With 647 round wins, Coughlin is 10th on the career list. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) is ninth with 657.
“All (the Wallys) are special,” said Coughlin, the No. 7 qualifier who crossed the finish line in 6.557 seconds (210.67 mph) but would have been declared the winner after Hartford fouled in the Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro SS. “It feels fantastic. What a way to start the year.”
Robert Hight, the No. 1 Funny Car qualifier for the second consecutive race in the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS, fell in the semifinals. And for the second consecutive race, Hight got the better of teammate John Force in eliminations with a run of 3.879 seconds (327.82 mph) to Force’s 3.988 in the PEAK Coolant & Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro SS in the quarterfinals.
“Not a bad day for the Auto Club Chevy Camaro,” said Hight, who retained the points lead. “We ran well all weekend and went some rounds today. We’ll be testing tomorrow, trying some new things out. It will only get better. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Force, the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion, picked up his 1,901st elimination round win by defeating Ron Capps in the 100th meeting between the champions. Force, the No. 8 qualifier, leads the contest between the two 60-40.
John Force Racing rookie Austin Prock (Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster), who qualified sixth, won his first-round race for the second consecutive Top Fuel event. Teammate Brittany Force (Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster) lost in the first round.
Coughlin eliminated teammate Eric Enders (Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS) and Hartford defeated Deric Kramer (American Ethanol Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the semifinals. Coughlin beat Alex Laughlin (Speed Society Chevrolet Camaro SS) in the second round.
In the 100th head-to-head matchup between drivers with a combined nine Pro Stock championships, Coughlin got the better of Greg Anderson’s Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro SS for the 45th time.
Anderson has competed in 1,199 rounds – the most of any active Pro Stock driver – and at Gainesville Raceway in the next NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series race will be seeking to join John Force (1,313), Warren Johnson (874) and Tony Schumacher (842) as the only drivers in all pro categories with 800 round wins.
FS1 will telecast Pro Stock eliminations and finals at 9 p.m. ET February 26.
Justin Lamb of Henderson, Nevada, the 2017 Stock Eliminator champion, drove his Chevrolet COPO Camaro to the third round of eliminations. Lamb, the Super Stock champion the past two years, drove his 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt to the national event victory.
The 50th Amalie Motor Oil NHR Gatornationals is scheduled for March 15-17 in Florida. FS1 will telecast taped eliminations and finals at 7:30 p.m. ET March 17.
An interview with Pro Stock winner JEG COUGHLIN JR., ELITE MOTORSPORTS, JEGS.COM/ELITE PERFORMANCE CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 7 qualifier; earned 62nd career Pro Stock win, tying Larry Dixon for eighth all time; was 81st national event victory in seven categories; was competing in 431st race and the final marked his 1,000th elimination round):
WHAT DOES THIS VICTORY MEAN TO YOU?
“It’s awesome. We had an abbreviated qualifying with Friday being rained out and it kind of put everyone behind a couple of runs. It’s early in the season so we don’t have a lot of runs under our belts and we came out Saturday and made two good runs. I ended up seventh. Pro Stock we’re just separated by the slimmest of margins. Today, it was on. I felt really good behind the wheel. I had my good buddy Greg Anderson fist round, which feels like a final round and the 100th time on top of that, and you can’t take him lightly anywhere. They ran into trouble early and we were able to motor on down there for the win. Then I ran three of my teammates. Ran Matt Hartford in the final; being local I know he was wanting to win. We came out on top today and it feels great.”
GOOD TO GET BACK IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON?
“It definitely is. I have lot of great memories here over the years. We won here a couple of times; I think 2009 in Pro Stock was the last and it definitely feels great. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season. We’re looking to debut a new car at Gainesville, so we send this one off in due fashion. It’s been a really good car for us the last not quite year.”
IS THAT NO. 2 ON THE SIDE OF YOUR CAR A BIT OF A MOTIVATOR?
“It was nothing to hang our head about last year. We watched what Gray Motorsports did with Tanner (Gray) and crew and they were just unstoppable. We’ve had seasons like that, and you have to ride it while you can. We’re certainly not disappointed in the No. 2 finish last year because it was up against the best in the world here. We would love to forward that to No.1, but it’s young a lot of racing left. We’ll chalk this win up today as a great win and also one to get our attention.”
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT THAT HASN’T BEEN ASKED?
“Probably not. Over the 20 years we’ve been racing Pro Stock, one thing for sure is I really enjoy our fan base out there. It’s been growing by the day since 1998 when I started racing professionally for myself. With a big family like we have, it’s been great to help carry the banner as the Team Jegs family and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”
TOP FUEL:
AUSTIN PROCK, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONTANA BRAND/ROCKY MOUNTAIN TWIST CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 6 qualifier; fell in second round): “We had another good weekend, second weekend out. We can’t really complain. We had a good drag race going with Antron Brown. We were out in front of him the whole race and it ended up spinning down there and the safety box shut us off. The boost center spiked up and it ended up killing the engine, so it was one that slipped away from us and it hurts but I think everyone knows we’re here and we’re going to go get them in Gainesville.”
BRITTANY FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, MONSTER ENERGY CHEVROLET DRAGSTER (No. 13 qualifier; fell in first round): “Second race of the season and we got beat in the first round again. You know, I’ve said this before, but it’s tricky when you bring in a whole new team and new crew chief and making all the swaps that we’ve been making over to the JFR parts. It’s a lot to handle. We knew it was going to take some races and its going to take a little bit of time, but our plan is to come out tomorrow and spend all day testing here in Phoenix. Make four good runs. We’re going to work this car down the track and see if we can figure this thing out because we either can’t get it past the tree because it goes in to shake or if we do, its dropping holes. We’re really going to figure this out before we go into Gainesville and we’ll start fresh there.”
FUNNY CAR:
ROBERT HIGHT, JOHN FORCE RACING, AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in semifinals): “Not a bad day for the Auto Club Chevy Camaro. We ran well all weekend and went some rounds today. The car slowed down, that was our slowest run. They out-drove us and I was late on the tree. We’re leaving here with the points lead and Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham have this thing dialed in. They are happy with how we’re running and we’re feeling good. We’ll be testing tomorrow, trying some new things out. It will only get better. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
JOHN FORCE, JOHN FORCE RACING, PEAK COOLANT & MOTOR OIL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “You’re always looking to see if your car is qualifying and maybe win some rounds, so life’s good. But if you’re going to run for the championship, you have to start now. Robert has a head start and I have a lot of work to do with this car, my team and me as a driver. Brittany has the same work as me and we’ll see where it goes. I want to thank all of the sponsors. The new one with the young kid (Austin) Prock, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist, and of course PEAK, Advance Auto Parts, Auto Club and Chevy. We’ll be testing tomorrow, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
PRO STOCK:
BO BUTNER, JIM BUTNER AUTO, JIM BUTNER AUTO GROUP CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 1 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “There was nothing we could do; they just made a better run than us. But I’m happy with our qualifying effort, and I was even happy to shake [the tires] that second qualifying pass because that means we tried something – and that’s good to do. We’ll be alright, and I’m not going into that slump I had last year. That’s not an option, so we’re looking forward to Gainesville. I’m ready to hop back in that Jim Butner Auto Group Chevy Camaro.”
JASON LINE, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 3 qualifier; fell in quarterfinals): “The second round didn’t go as planned, obviously, but we’re still really happy with the silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro. It’s already been a good car for us, and it’s getting better. There were challenges this weekend for us here, but the good news is that we can put those behind us and focus on the next race. We’ve got a lot of work to do before Gainesville, so it’s good that we’ve got a little bit of time to work on things.”
DERIC KRAMER, KRAMER RACING, AMERICAN ETHANOL CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 8 qualifier; fell in semifinals to Matt Hartford): “Most of the time I go out there with the same attitude. When the light comes on, I’m going to move my foot and hopefully I have enough motor, I shift on time, and I can get to the finish line before the guy next to me. I really wanted to beat Chris McGaha by a tenth, and I figured if I could cut a .009 light, then that would get me there – and it did. At the end of the track they’ve been having some technical difficulties this weekend, so I didn’t actually know what I got for a light until I got back to the trailer. I was glad to see it. Unfortunately, in Pro Stock, it’s anyone’s game and our day ended in the semis. But having good results like we had this weekend is always good for momentum.”
GREG ANDERSON, KB RACING, SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS (No. 10 qualifier; fell in first round): “We’ve had our share of bad breaks and stupid stuff, and hopefully we’ve gotten that all out of the way. We will certainly be testing before Gainesville and making sure we have everything right. I’m just going to have to forget about the first two races, put them out of my mind, and better days will come.”