Englishtown: Jeg Coughlin Friday summary

Jeg Is No. 11 After Day One

In the opening qualifying session of the weekend Coughlin posted a run of 6.934 at 198.35 mph. The run put him in the No. 16 spot with three scheduled qualifying sessions remaining to improve.

"We made the most with what we had to work with for the first run and made a decent run," said Coughlin. "The throttle linkage even broke just before the finish line and that effected what we posted on the board. We were expecting to have a different engine in the car to start the weekend, but it didn't make it to the track in time. Obviously, we knew how important it was for us to get as much data as we could on the track to help us for the rest of the weekend. Sitting out for a session was not an option. I guess we were just having one of those days."

The team had two fresh engines show up just after making their first run. The engines were expected to be delivered around 10:00 AM Friday morning to the Team Jeg's pit area and in the car in time for the opening qualifying session.

"Once we found out where the error occurred and where our engines were we quickly came up with a plan to get the engines here as quick as possible," explained Coughlin. "Within a matter of hours the engines were here at the track and in the car in time to make the second qualifying run. None of this would have been possible without the help of Doug Kalitta and his staff, Deb Derenthall with Fastrac Air Express and even a dispatcher with the local police department who helped us find a towing company so we could get the engines out of the plane and into a van that brought them to the track. All-in-all we had a pretty busy day making what seemed to be tough situation work."

The second qualifying session was held in the early evening around 7:30 PM. The engine change proved to be the right call. The two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion improve over his previous time and marched up to the No. 11 spot. He posted a run of 6.838 at 201.64 mph.

"We made some big changes for the second session and accomplished a lot as a team," explained Coughlin. "I felt a lot better when the guys told me what I ran over the radio after crossing the finish line. We have a strong run to tune off of going into the second day of qualifying. I think we will all sleep a lot better tonight."

Jeg Coughlin, Jr. and his Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier ended the first of two days of professional qualifying sitting in the No. 11 position. The 33-year old second generation driver will focus on breaking into the top-half of the field tomorrow (Saturday).