Troy Coughlin earned a very timely and crucial win within NHRA’s Pro Mod class category last Sunday…

The 2X NHRA J&A Services Pro Mod World Champion made the move to the cusp of a potential 3rd World Championship title when he
defeated the quickest assembly of Pro Mod class cars in history, during the NHRA’s AAA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Coughlin ran a gauntlet of top professionals in his twin-turbo JEGS.com Chevrolet Corvette C7 and by winning won the sixth annual event, he surged into the J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series points lead with one race remaining on the 2017 schedule.

Troy Coughlin vaulted into NHRA’s season points lead with a very timely win at St. Louis last weekend.

Coughlin entered the weekend 48 points adrift of leader Mike Castellana and was unimpressive in qualifying, taking the No. 12 slot while Castellana earned the pole. But once eliminations started, everything shifted Coughlin’s way with Castellana upset in the first round by final qualifier Pete Farber and Coughlin powering through four rounds to score his second victory of the season.

“Things are really good right now,” said Coughlin, the 2012 and 2015 Pro Mod world champion. “We came into this race a little more than two rounds behind in the points and now we’ve managed to flip it to where we actually have a little more than a round’s worth of a points lead going into the last race.

“This win was a total group effort. Crew chief Steve Petty, Kyle Pettis, Mike Rees, all of the guys on the JEGS.com team back at the shop, have done an excellent job keeping this car going. Mac Tools, Proline, Fuel Tech we couldn’t do it without those people and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone that helps us. They are the reason for our success.”

After upsetting reigning series champion and longtime rival “Tricky Rickie” Smith in Round 1 action Saturday night, Coughlin marched past Steven Whiteley, Farber and Khalid alBalooshi in the final Sunday to move 26 points ahead of Castellana with only the Las Vegas race left on the docket.

“We need to go to the last race and swing as hard as we did here,” Coughlin said. “That’s what it takes to win the championship. We are a five-star team and these guys have worked really hard all the way from research and development, to the dyno work that was put in, plus all those hours of testing. It’s a dream come true to be in this position, for sure.”

Coughlin’s win also included top speed of the meet for the category – 257.33 mph. His win came over a record quick field which featured not only a 5.804 secs bump spot but which in fact saw 12/16 qualified cars run in the 5.7 secs zone. The previous all time quick Pro Mod class field had come during the NHRA Chevrolet Performance US Nationals at Indy last Labour Day weekend @ 5.846 secs.

Mike Castellana was credited with low ET of the event when he qualified #1 at 5.713 secs.

Mike Castellana – the J&A Services Pro Mod points leader entering last weekend event – qualified #1 – but was then upset in the 1st round of class competition.

The J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will conclude its 12-race season Oct. 27-29 during the 17th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Posted with files by Rob Geiger and Bruce Biegler

Editors Note:  More News from VP Racing Fuels our “Pro Mod Portal” Presenter

VP Racing Fuels® has announced the promotion of Bruce Hendel to Vice President North America Sales, Race Fuel and Consumer Products. In this newly formed position, Hendel will be responsible for all North America Sales efforts in support of both VP Consumer Products and Race Fuel business divisions.

“Bruce is a veteran at VP Racing Fuels joining the company 25 years ago and his appointment to the new position is a key strategic move for the future of our company. He has been instrumental in landing some of the largest business deals to date for the company and opened our sales channels to big box retailers and top tier customers like Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply and AutoZone as well as large distributors in the automotive and OPE channels, like Prime Line and Blount. In addition, he has also been involved in negotiations with most of the major race series the company is associated with today like AMA, IMSA, PWC and Indy Lights. We are confident Bruce will continue strengthening the VP brand and expanding our distribution and sales metrics here at VP” said Alan Cerwick, President of VP Racing Fuels.

“I am proud of what we’ve accomplished in the Consumer Products division over the past 4 years in company growth and brand recognition at big box retailers. This year alone, Consumer Product Sales are up 44% from 2016 so it gives me a lot of confidence to take on the new roles and bring that growth amongst multiple divisions. Taking on the North America Sales efforts for the VP brand is a welcomed challenge for me and I look forward to the future growth of our company,” said Hendel.

Posted by: Donato Bonacquisto