Troy Coughlin hoping to pick up where he left off in Atlanta

Courtesy of Jegs

ATLANTA, GA – Pro Mod driver Troy Coughlin has a simple wish for this weekend’s Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series event at Atlanta Dragway — pick up right where his JEGS.com team left off at the last tour stop in Houston.

Coughlin had his best run of the weekend in eliminations, coaxing a 6.06-second pass out of his small block, turbo-powered Pontiac GTO is a fractional loss to Danny Rowe. The past world champion Pro Street drag racer says if they can start Atlanta as strong as they finished Houston, they’ll be in great shape.

“The field in Pro Mod this year is exceptionally stout,” Coughlin said. “Every run you make needs to be as close to perfect as possible. Pro Mod gets three qualifying passes, so we have one less than the other pro categories to figure everything out, so we’re already under the gun. That really narrows your window for any corrections that may need to be made.

“We left Texas feeling good about ourselves. The car was doing what we wanted and it really responded well on a hot track, which is what we’re sure to see this weekend in Atlanta. I told the guys to just clean it up, freshen all the components, and put it in the trailer. No one felt like we needed to make any big moves, and that’s encouraging.”

This weekend’s race, which runs as part of the NHRA national event, is the fourth of 10 on the 2011 Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. Coughlin is just one round out of the top 10, and is trying to follow the example of the top runners to gain ground.

“(Points leader) Khalid Balooshi is showing us all how it’s done,” Coughlin said of the Qatari driver, who leads the pack by 56 points. “First, he’s a great driver. Then you look at the fact he’s been running the same type of car with the same power adder and basically the same crew for quite awhile now. That’s a huge advantage. He’s smart.

“We’re trying to get there and I think we finally have the right combination in place. I’ve actually been very impressed with what we’ve done considering we once again changed everything up this past off season. When we get our new car and put a big block under the hood, we’re going to hit the ground running because everything we’ve done up to this point has been aimed in that direction. That’s why I’m so pumped up about this program.”

Qualifying begins at 3:15 and 5:30 p.m. Friday at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.