NHRA’s exciting 10-race season brand for Pro Mod racing came to a dramatic finish at LVMS…

The final event of the season determined the overall series championship title and concluded the season long battle for class supremacy.

Two-time world champion Troy Coughlin won the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to finish in second place overall. Coughlin has now finished either first or second in the championship chase for five consecutive seasons, a stunning mark in any professional category.

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Racing his Jeg.com C7 -Troy Coughlin earned his 3rd win of the season at the season finale and with that finished a close 2nd in final championship points.

Racing his Jegs.com C7 -Troy Coughlin earned his 3rd win of the season at the season finale and with that finished a close 2nd in final championship points.

“It’s been an awesome day and a phenomenal year,” Coughlin said. “Last year we didn’t win any races but managed to win the championship. This year we won three races but finished second. That’s how crazy this class is and how close the racing has been year after year. It’s a bunch of wins decided by fractions of a second.

“We’ve experienced a lot of emotion throughout the season. There’s been a lot of ups and downs with some big rule changes but our guys adapted, came back hard and kicked ass, which made it very easy for me to drive this JEGS.com Corvette.”

Coughlin flexed brute force on the quarter-mile strip all day, reeling off a stunning run of lightning-quick passes to beat Pete Farber, Kevin Rivenbark, newly-crowned champ Rickie Smith and Todd Tutterow in the final. This was Coughlin’s third victory of the season and ninth of his Pro Mod career.

Although every round win was pivotal in the victory, it was Coughlin’s second-round blast of 5.776 seconds at 252.76 mph that brought the crowd to its feet. His elapsed time was within striking distance of the national record of 5.751, and was easily the best of the entire race weekend.

“We’re not touching this racecar because it’s perfect,” Coughlin said. “It might not come out of the trailer again until (the 2017 season opener in) Gainesville. What a year it’s been and what a way to finish it off. The whole Jegs.com race team has been strong and we couldn’t be more excited.

“I want to thank the guys at Pro Line for building our engines as well as Alan Johnson and his crew out in California. I’m the lucky guy that gets to sit in the seat but it’s the rest of these guys working their butts off that make it happen. I’m very proud of what Steve (Petty, crew chief) has done. I’m very proud of Mike Rees, Kyle Pettis and Woody Woodruff. It’s so important to be associated with good people.”

Racing his nitrous-assisted late model Chevy Camaro, North Carolina’s Rickie Smith secured his third NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series championship by qualifying for the series ending event.

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Wily veteran Rickie Smith has prevailed to win his 3rd career NHRA J&A Services Pro Mod World points Championship

Wily veteran Rickie Smith has prevailed to win his 3rd career NHRA J&A Services Pro Mod World points Championship

Smith, who won the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series championship in 2013 and 2014, raced to a strong start of the season to propel himself to the series crown. In his IDG ’15 Camaro he opened the season with a win at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornational in Gainesville, Fla., defeating Danny Rowe in the finals. He raced to a runner up finish at the next event in Houston and won the third race of the season at Atlanta. He most recently raced to a runner-up finish in St. Louis. He was also the No. 1 qualifier at two events.

“We only have 10 races and when you only have 10 races you can’t get behind as it is hard to catch up,” said Smith. “Luckily, we got off to a heck of a run this year. We went to three finals and won two of them and that got us a good cushion. We kept making rounds and just trying to be consistent on Sunday.

“I was going to retire three years ago because I was ready. But you hate to quit when you are winning and doing this good. I know I’m going to have to quit one day but you can always quit, but you can’t always keep winning.”

For Coughlin, seeing Smith clinch the title earlier followed a familiar pattern for the two pros, who once worked together when Smith tuned Coughlin’s car. In the last five years, Coughlin won championships in 2012 and 2015, while Smith won it all in 2013, 2014 and now 2016.

“Hat’s off to Rickie,” Coughlin said. “He’s won more rounds than anyone else this year but we finished so close to him and made him earn it. What a deal. What a blast it’s been. It’s just been a great season and to win like this going into the off season is fantastic.”

In the final season points aggregate – Smith edged out Coughlin by a 794 to 744 points margin.

Pro Mod class racing at LVMS was yet another speedy affair with the 23 cars entered producing a swift and all 5-secs bump spot at 5.959 secs.  Coughlin’s 2nd round time of 5.776 secs was low ET of the race while Michael Bowman’s turbocharged Chevelle hit 255.53 mph for top speed honours.

Posted with files from NHRA Communications, Rob Geiger and Bruce Biegler

Photos by Bob Johnson & Courtesy of NHRA & Jegs