Ohio native Troy Coughlin secured the No. 1 qualifying position and then raced to a first round victory Saturday in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx.
Coughlin, sixth in points, posted a run of 5.949 seconds at 250.64 mph in his turbocharged JEGS.com '68 Chevy Camaro to take the No. 1 qualifying position on a hot and humid day at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
"We felt as if we had a competitive car coming into this race," Coughlin said. "We started off in qualifying by losing traction a little bit, so we had some work to do. This morning we read the track and made a couple adjustments to it, and ended up with a great run that put us on the pole. We were the second car out, so we had to sit and wait all session to see what happened. But it stuck and stayed No. 1 by four-hundredths, which was nice."
In the first round of eliminations, Coughlin posted a winning pass of 6.180 at 223.32, while opponent Mike Knowles' Camaro broke during the burnout.
"We rolled into first round on a little bit greasier race track, which we adjusted for," Coughlin said. "The JEGS car was hustling but it started picking up the front end so I cut it back a little bit. I decided not to take a chance at hurting the engine and just kind of let off. We still ran a 6.18, which is pretty quick. We'll tune this run for tomorrow. The weather's supposed to be a little cooler, so that's going to bring the track and the atmosphere to this thing to make it faster."
Other first round winners included Donald Martin, Rickie Smith, David Roemer, Roger Burgess, Donald Walsh, Mike Janis and Mike Castellana. In the quarterfinals, which will continue on Sunday at approximately 2:30 p.m., Coughlin will face Martin, Burgess will meet Castellana, Smith will battle Roemer and Walsh will face Janis.
ROUND ONE -- Donald Martin, Chevy Camaro, 6.148, 240.81 def. Leah Pruett, Ford Mustang, 6.328, 240.55; David Roemer, Chevy Cavalier, 6.098, 236.88 def. Jay Payne, Camaro, 6.157, 238.34; Troy Coughlin, Camaro, 6.180, 223.32 def. Mike Knowles, Camaro, broke; Donald Walsh, Ford Mustang, 5.955, 252.14 def. Kevin McCurdy, Camaro, 14.159, 59.81; Mike Janis, Mustang, 7.010, 174.01 def. Danny Rowe, Camaro, foul; Mike Castellana, Camaro, 6.182, 212.63 def. Kenny Lang, Camaro, 6.782, 209.79; Roger Burgess, Chevy Corvette, 6.159, 219.69 def. Clint Satterfield, Camaro, 6.395, 214.93; Rickie Smith, Camaro, 6.060, 239.53 def. Pete Farber, Dodge Daytona, 10.591, 85.47
