Jeg Coughlin Jr. Runs to Final Round in Mopar®/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger Debut at NHRA Winternationals
• Team Mopar driver Coughlin advances to the final in his first race back from a one-year hiatus
• Allen Johnson steers his Mopar Dodge Avenger to the quarterfinals in Pro Stock
• Team Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Matt Hagan exits in first round
February 13, 2012
, Pomona, Calif.
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When Jeg Coughlin Jr. unveiled his Mopar®/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger late last year, the four-time NHRA Pro Stock champ declared his new ride would “fire some shots off the bow immediately” in 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series competition. And today at the 52nd Annual NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., that’s exactly what the Delaware, Ohio native did.
In his first event following a one-year hiatus from Pro Stock, and in his inaugural race in his 2012 Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger, Coughlin backed up his pre-season statement, coming all the way from the No. 14 starting position to make a stunning run to the final round. The runner-up performance today marked Coughlin’s 85th final-round appearance, his 11th at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and his first final in a Mopar-powered Dodge since he won the 2005 NHRA Finals at Pomona.
The Team Mopar driver demonstrated in the first round that his one-year break left nary a trace of rust. Coughlin’s 6.581-second pass at 210.47 mph was slower than Humphrey’s 6.569/211.99 mark, but his faster reflexes off the starting line (a .021 reaction time to his opponent’s .059) gave him the winning edge. In the quarterfinals Coughlin won a battle of Mopars, edging out the Dodge Avenger of Vincent Nobile with a 6.590/209.85 pass.
In the semifinals against Mike Edwards, Coughlin took the win with 6.615/209.30 run after Edwards left early, taking the loss on a red-light foul. Yet another former Pro Stock champion, Greg Anderson, awaited Coughlin in the final round. The dream finish was not be, as Coughlin’s quicker reaction time of .017 with a 6.586/209.62 pass wasn’t enough to defeat Anderson (.027, 6.459/210.87).
“The team really showed a lot of character this weekend,” said Coughlin. “This is the third track we’ve been on since we started this program. We’re really just starting to peck away at our inefficiencies. After the three qualifying runs we were fourteenth, and we kind of clawed our way through it today.
“We’re going to fly this engine back to Mooresville at JNR Racing engines, and Roy (Simmons) and Nick (Ferri) are going to see if they can fine-tune it through the week. We’ve got a couple of days where we might learn some things about this Mopar HEMI powerplant that is still very new to us. If we can make any gains, that’s going to be huge for us. In the meantime we’ve got to keep our focus on Phoenix.
“All in all, we’re very, very stoked. I don’t get too excited very often, but to see this program go from a great conversation and a lot of heart and soul and passion, to making it to the runner-up at Pomona, that’s job well done. But there’s a lot of work to do. We’re not going to skim through some of the runs in the future like we did today. We have to bear down and work hard and get this Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge a bit faster.”
Mopar Dodge Avenger driver and No. 4 qualifier Allen Johnson advanced as far as the quarterfinals in Pro Stock eliminations today. The Team Mopar veteran took out Erica Enders in the first round with a 6.559/211.10 run, but lacked lane choice in his quarterfinals fight with Greg Anderson. Johnson was quicker off the starting line (a .019 reaction to Anderson’s .020 mark), but AJ’s 6.570/210.93 pass wasn’t enough to best Anderson’s winning 6.550/210.97.
“We were solid, consistent and made good runs, but not great runs,” said Johnson. “We’ll take this, be happy, and try to build on it at Phoenix. For the first race of the year we had a good qualifying position, a good car and good team work. We’ve had success at Phoenix in the past, and hopefully we’ll grab our first win of the year there.”
V. Gaines, the No. 15 qualifier in a Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger, fell in the first round with a run of 6.646/208.97 to Edwards, who posted a 6.649/211.06.
Defending NHRA Funny Car champion and Team Mopar superstar Matt Hagan will look to rebound after an early exit today. Hagan posted his Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T ninth and came out on the losing end of a Mopar vs. Mopar battle with Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Ron Capps in the opening round. Hagan recorded a 4.298/269.73 effort to Capps’ 4.093/312.06.
“I don’t know if it got out of the groove and smoked the tires or what,” said Hagan, who triumphed in the season-ending NHRA Finals at Pomona last year to clinch his title. “It was going to be a tight race and we both had to run hard. It just didn’t turn in our favor. We have to put our Aaron’s Dream Machine Mopar Dodge back together and move on to Phoenix.”
Capps dispatched Todd Lesenko in the quarterfinals with a 4.086/311.13 run, then fell short in the semifinals against Mike Neff. In another showdown of Mopar HEMI®-powered Dodge cars, DSR pilot Jack Beckman (4.289/218.23) fell to Gary Densham (4.241/221.20) in the quarterfinals; Densham would bow out against John Force in the semis. DSR Dodge Funny Car driver Johnny Gray’s day ended in the first round in a losing bid against Tim Wilkerson.
The Winternationals also marked the debut of Magneti Marelli, Mopar's aftermarket partner, as a sponsor on Allen Johnson's Dodge Avenger in Pro Stock and Matt Hagan's Dodge Charger R/T in Funny Car.
Exiting Pomona, Coughlin is second in the Pro Stock point standings, with Johnson fifth, Nobile sixth and Gaines tied for 14th. In Funny Car, Capps is tied for third, with Beckman fifth, Gray 11th and Hagan 12th. Next up for the Mopar-powered NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers is the NHRA Arizona Nationals, scheduled for Feb. 17–19 at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information on the NHRA, visit www.nhra.com.
Mopar-First Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:
• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with consumers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car
• Camper trailers: first to introduce off-road camper trailers
• WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
About the Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes 280,000 parts and accessories. With the creation of the Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. partnership, Mopar is extending its global reach, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Combined with Fiat S.p.A., Mopar’s global portfolio includes more than 500,000 parts and accessories which are distributed in more than 120 countries. Mopar is the source for all genuine parts and accessories for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. brands.
Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A.vehicles — a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at http://www.mopar.com.
75 Years of Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for antifreeze product in 1937. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s — the muscle-car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.
In his first event following a one-year hiatus from Pro Stock, and in his inaugural race in his 2012 Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger, Coughlin backed up his pre-season statement, coming all the way from the No. 14 starting position to make a stunning run to the final round. The runner-up performance today marked Coughlin’s 85th final-round appearance, his 11th at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and his first final in a Mopar-powered Dodge since he won the 2005 NHRA Finals at Pomona.
The Team Mopar driver demonstrated in the first round that his one-year break left nary a trace of rust. Coughlin’s 6.581-second pass at 210.47 mph was slower than Humphrey’s 6.569/211.99 mark, but his faster reflexes off the starting line (a .021 reaction time to his opponent’s .059) gave him the winning edge. In the quarterfinals Coughlin won a battle of Mopars, edging out the Dodge Avenger of Vincent Nobile with a 6.590/209.85 pass.
In the semifinals against Mike Edwards, Coughlin took the win with 6.615/209.30 run after Edwards left early, taking the loss on a red-light foul. Yet another former Pro Stock champion, Greg Anderson, awaited Coughlin in the final round. The dream finish was not be, as Coughlin’s quicker reaction time of .017 with a 6.586/209.62 pass wasn’t enough to defeat Anderson (.027, 6.459/210.87).
“The team really showed a lot of character this weekend,” said Coughlin. “This is the third track we’ve been on since we started this program. We’re really just starting to peck away at our inefficiencies. After the three qualifying runs we were fourteenth, and we kind of clawed our way through it today.
“We’re going to fly this engine back to Mooresville at JNR Racing engines, and Roy (Simmons) and Nick (Ferri) are going to see if they can fine-tune it through the week. We’ve got a couple of days where we might learn some things about this Mopar HEMI powerplant that is still very new to us. If we can make any gains, that’s going to be huge for us. In the meantime we’ve got to keep our focus on Phoenix.
“All in all, we’re very, very stoked. I don’t get too excited very often, but to see this program go from a great conversation and a lot of heart and soul and passion, to making it to the runner-up at Pomona, that’s job well done. But there’s a lot of work to do. We’re not going to skim through some of the runs in the future like we did today. We have to bear down and work hard and get this Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge a bit faster.”
Mopar Dodge Avenger driver and No. 4 qualifier Allen Johnson advanced as far as the quarterfinals in Pro Stock eliminations today. The Team Mopar veteran took out Erica Enders in the first round with a 6.559/211.10 run, but lacked lane choice in his quarterfinals fight with Greg Anderson. Johnson was quicker off the starting line (a .019 reaction to Anderson’s .020 mark), but AJ’s 6.570/210.93 pass wasn’t enough to best Anderson’s winning 6.550/210.97.
“We were solid, consistent and made good runs, but not great runs,” said Johnson. “We’ll take this, be happy, and try to build on it at Phoenix. For the first race of the year we had a good qualifying position, a good car and good team work. We’ve had success at Phoenix in the past, and hopefully we’ll grab our first win of the year there.”
V. Gaines, the No. 15 qualifier in a Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger, fell in the first round with a run of 6.646/208.97 to Edwards, who posted a 6.649/211.06.
Defending NHRA Funny Car champion and Team Mopar superstar Matt Hagan will look to rebound after an early exit today. Hagan posted his Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T ninth and came out on the losing end of a Mopar vs. Mopar battle with Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Ron Capps in the opening round. Hagan recorded a 4.298/269.73 effort to Capps’ 4.093/312.06.
“I don’t know if it got out of the groove and smoked the tires or what,” said Hagan, who triumphed in the season-ending NHRA Finals at Pomona last year to clinch his title. “It was going to be a tight race and we both had to run hard. It just didn’t turn in our favor. We have to put our Aaron’s Dream Machine Mopar Dodge back together and move on to Phoenix.”
Capps dispatched Todd Lesenko in the quarterfinals with a 4.086/311.13 run, then fell short in the semifinals against Mike Neff. In another showdown of Mopar HEMI®-powered Dodge cars, DSR pilot Jack Beckman (4.289/218.23) fell to Gary Densham (4.241/221.20) in the quarterfinals; Densham would bow out against John Force in the semis. DSR Dodge Funny Car driver Johnny Gray’s day ended in the first round in a losing bid against Tim Wilkerson.
The Winternationals also marked the debut of Magneti Marelli, Mopar's aftermarket partner, as a sponsor on Allen Johnson's Dodge Avenger in Pro Stock and Matt Hagan's Dodge Charger R/T in Funny Car.
Exiting Pomona, Coughlin is second in the Pro Stock point standings, with Johnson fifth, Nobile sixth and Gaines tied for 14th. In Funny Car, Capps is tied for third, with Beckman fifth, Gray 11th and Hagan 12th. Next up for the Mopar-powered NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers is the NHRA Arizona Nationals, scheduled for Feb. 17–19 at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information on the NHRA, visit www.nhra.com.
Mopar-First Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:
• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with consumers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car
• Camper trailers: first to introduce off-road camper trailers
• WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
About the Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes 280,000 parts and accessories. With the creation of the Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. partnership, Mopar is extending its global reach, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Combined with Fiat S.p.A., Mopar’s global portfolio includes more than 500,000 parts and accessories which are distributed in more than 120 countries. Mopar is the source for all genuine parts and accessories for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. brands.
Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A.vehicles — a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at http://www.mopar.com.
75 Years of Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for antifreeze product in 1937. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s — the muscle-car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.
Source: Chrysler
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