Ohio’s Troy Coughlin powers Jeg’s Mail Order C7 to a 10th career NHRA win…..

Troy Coughlin powered to the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series victory during the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The weekend’s Pro Mod racing, presented by the Real Pro Mod Association, was the seventh of 12 events on the 2017 schedule.

Troy Coughlin – who won the NHRA Pro Mod Championship in 2015 – rolled to his 10th career class win at Bristol’s Thunder Valley Nationals

Coughlin ran a 5.878-second pass at 253.09 mph to defeat No. 1 qualifier Shane Molinari and his S&T Truck Repair Inc/RAD sponsored ’68 Firebird. Molinari, who is based from Washington-state ran at 5.881 at 254.76 to fall just short of his first win of the season.

“What can I say about those guys Steve Petty, Kyle, Mike, the Jegs.com team and everybody at Mac Tools – they’re a badass group of people,” Coughlin said. “We’ve had a fantastic car for the last race or so. We struggled a little bit in the middle part of the first half of the season, but it’s definitely coming around.”

It was Coughlin’s second consecutive final round appearance and he is now currently second in points behind leader Mike Castellana who maintains that after a quarterfinal finish.

Coughlin defeated Mike Janis, Bob Rahaim and Jonathan Gray in earlier rounds of competition.

Molinari was the event’s performance star again racing his now Brad Personett-tuned turbocharged Firebird. Shane set low ET and top speed while qualifying at 5.837 secs and 256.70 mph. His terminal speed mark was the 5th time this season he has grabbed top MPH at a NHRA race.

Shane Molinari continues to dazzle NHRA Pro Mod class racing with big top end speeds

Posted by Bruce Biegler
Photos by Bruce Biegler & Phil Hutchison