Troy Coughlin Jr. is finally a NHRA Pro Stock Wally carrying member!
Coughlin, an eight-time winner in NHRA’s Sportsman-racing ranks, had been to three Pro Stock finals – as recently as this year’s Phoenix event -- and been turned away each time, and many didn’t figure him to beat teammate and points leader Erica Enders, whose red Camaro had been quicker all day, especially after she left first by .006-second. Coughlin fought back and took the win by an infinitesimally small margin of one ten-thousandths of a second (.0001-second) to join his famous uncle, Jeg, who won this race 20 years ago, as a Seattle winner.
“I could hear her, and I knew she was close," he said. "I wasn't looking out my window. I was just trying to get to the finish line and make sure I'm pulling the cogs [gears] as right as I can and keep it in the groove and just trying to stay focused on my tasks.
"I have to give all the credit to my Elite Motorsports team," he added. "They've been working that hard and to have a Pro Stock car make that many good runs in a weekend in the heat is extremely impressive. What an honor to win today. What a great place to win. I'm tickled to death.”
Coughlin had qualified the familiar yellow and black JEGS Camaro in the No. 4 spot then raced his way past Fernando Cuadra, rookie Camrie Caruso, and low qualifier Greg Anderson, who shook the tires against Coughlin.
Enders, the 2012 Seattle winner, was competing in her 70th career final (68 of which have come in Pro Stock) and most figured her to add to the previous weekend’s Sonoma victory, especially after Enders ran a pair of steady 6.59s in the first two rounds to advance to the semifinals, where she dispatched teammate Aaron Stanfield for the seventh time in eight races this season.
After a week off, Coughlin and all of the other stars of the NHRA will return in Topeka for the Menards NHRA Nationals Presented By PetArmor August 12th through the 14th. Don't miss all the action!
See the recap from Phil Burgess, NHRA National Dragster Editor at nhra.com:
See the Sunday photo gallery from NHRA National Dragster staff:
Photo: NHRA
Content: nhra.com
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