Gateway: Jeg's trucks strong on Friday

Team Jeg's returned to Gateway International Raceway as the defending Champion in Pro Stock Truck. Last year, John Coughlin disposed of Bob Panella in the final round and won his second professional victory of his career. John enters the ninth race of the season for the Pro Stock Truck class in the No. 16 position with 198 points. Mike is ready to strike from the No. 11 spot and has 270 points.

In the opening qualifying session John and his Jeg's Mail Order Chevy S-10 pulled into the left lane. John blasted off of the starting line and made a quick move to the left with the front end up in the air. He quickly returned to the center of the groove and laid down a run of 7.532 at 179.80 mph. The run put him in the No. 10 spot after the first session.

"We got a little too aggressive with our weight transfer in the first session. The Jeg's Chevy S-10 felt great going down track after it settled down. I think that we are really on to something this weekend and we are looking forward to some big things this weekend," said John.

Mike and his yellow and black Jeg's machine took on the right lane in the first session. The Jeg's Chevy S-10 left the starting line beams a little on the lazy side. Mike ran 7.582 at 177.91 mph and ended up in the No. 15 position after the first of four scheduled qualifying sessions.

"We know what we need to do to fix how the Jeg's Chevy S-10 to get it to respond better off of the starting line. The important thing is that we gained data on our fresh new engine that was built out of our R&D facility. This is the first piece that we have built from scratch and we are looking forward to a productive weekend. We can all see the light at the end of the tunnel and it looks pretty bright for Team Jeg's," explained Mike.

In the second session Mike switched lanes and ran the left lane. The Jeg's machine made a much better run during the second session. Mike crossed the beam at the big end with a 7.518 at 178.26 mph. The run moved him into the No. 11 spot.

"We came out in the second session with a set up that responded better to the conditions that we had. Pro Stock Truck is so competitive that you have to make solid runs all the time or you will be watching from the stands on raceday," said Mike.

John took on the right lane in his Jeg's machine for his second pass of the weekend. Team Jeg's pulled together and made a great run. John ran a 7.486 at 178.42 mph and moved up to the No. 5 position.

"We made a move in the right direction during the second session. The Chevy S-10 responded well to the changes that we made and it really helped to settle things back down off of the starting line. There are a lot of smiles around our pit area and I believe that we are on target this weekend," explained John.

-Jeg's