Story By: SARA SLAUGHTER / ELITE MOTORSPORTS – SONOMA, CA – Tory Coughlin Jr. and the JEGS.com / White Castle team rallied to their first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge victory of the season Saturday at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.
Troy Jr. picked up the win against his uncle Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the SCAG Power Equipment / Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer team on a holeshot. With a .024 reaction time and 6.529 second pass at 211.63 mph Troy Jr. bettered Jeg Jr.’s .052 and 6.552 at 211.26.
“This was tons of fun. It’s fantastic facing uncle Jeg especially at this majestic facility in front of these awesome fans. Our team has worked their tails off to make these cars competitive. We’ve struggled a bit on race day but it’s coming together,” Troy Jr. said. “I didn’t think that .024 reaction time would be enough but it was, this time. I’ve thought about racing against Jeg for about 28 years. It doesn’t matter if it’s a local race or a big bracket race or NHRA Pro Stock. It is great to race against him. To do this is a dream fulfilled.”
Troy Jr. reached the final round after first defeating Dallas Glenn in a rematch of the NHRA Northwest Nationals semifinals. Troy Jr. would have another hole shot victory with his .018 reaction time and 6.518-second run at 210.54 mph to Glenn’s .072 reaction time with a 6.497 run at 211.00.
“It’s a tough class, Pro Stock. You have to get up on the tree. You have to pay attention, get up on the wheel, be aggressive and got to be tough,” Troy Jr. said. “The people we’re racing against, they’re mean. So you have to get up there and hit it.”
Jeg Jr., who won the NHRA Northwest Nationals, made his way to the finals with a 6.516-second pass at 210.41 mph to take down Chris McGaha’s 6.539 at 210.97.
The Coughlin boys will get another chance to run against each other on race day. Jeg Jr. is qualified in the No. 8 position with a 6.516-second run at 210.41 mph while Troy Jr.’s 6.518 at 210.54 puts him No. 9.
Eliminations at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals will begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. with Pro Stock first round at 11:30 a.m. Television continues with a qualifying show Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) while eliminations will be on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.