Coughlin looking to cash-in once again at Las Vegas race

 Coughlin looking to cash-in once again at Las Vegas race

 LAS VEGAS (Oct. 30) — Five-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. will attempt to win his sixth national event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the No.3 position after posting a best pass of 6.657 at 206.56 mph Saturday during qualifying for the 10th annual Las Vegas Nationals.

 Should Coughlin take the trophy Sunday it would be the third year in a row that he’s won at Bruton Smith’s masterpiece facility in North Las Vegas. Overall, he’s emerged victorious from this track in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, and 2009.

 ”The track has been fantastic for the Pro Stock cars this weekend,” Coughlin said. “We were taking a bite, getting more aggressive with every run.”

 Coughlin’s raced his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt to six final-round appearances this year, winning four times to push his career total of Pro Stock victories to 52. Only three racers in history have more.

 ”We came in with a game plan this year similar to just about every other race this year,” Coughlin said. “We’ve been fortunate this time. Everything has stayed together and we haven’t had to make many changes to the car. We’ve just been able to peck at the tune-up.”

 Although realistically he’s no longer in the hunt for the 2010 title, Coughlin hopes to finish as high as possible in the Full Throttle rankings. He knows another big day in Las Vegas could make a big difference in the end.

 ”I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Coughlin said. “I love racing in Vegas. It’s a heck of a stage to perform on. The fans come from around the world to take this in, and I hope the yellow and black will give them a good show.”

 Coughlin starts Sunday paired up against Dave Connolly, who had a best lap of 6.689 seconds at 207.15 mph.

 Eliminations begin at 11 a.m. PT and will be shown in primetime on ESPN

NHRA JOHN FORCE RACING

FORCE HOOD AND FORCE CASH IN FRIDAY AT LAS VEGAS

LAS VEGAS, NV – John Force gave an impassioned speech to his three teams Friday morning before the crowds poured into The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The theme of the speech was all three of his teams needed to swing for the fences and go after every qualifying bonus point possible for the rest of the season starting today.

After two rounds of qualifying Ashley Force Hood and her specialty themed Queen of Hearts Castrol GTX Ford Mustang were the provisional No. 1 qualifier and owners of four bonus points. Force Hood edged out her father and 14-time champion for the top spot and relegated him to No. 2 spot just ahead of points leader Matt Hagan. It was a solid effort for Force Hood as she and her team reaped the benefits of having most of the attention focused on the teams at the top of the points sheet.

“We’re approaching each round just trying to run the best possible time we can run.  We’re not thinking about records or other people in the field. We’re not letting ourselves think like that.  We’re just going  to take each run as it goes,” said Force Hood.

“It’s fun to do the night session and get a good run.  The little points matter, but the rounds are really going to matter.  We would love to get two more good runs tomorrow because conditions will be more like what we’ll see on Sunday.”

Force Hood’s first run of the day earned her team one bonus point and her last run, a career quickest at 1,000 feet 4.032 seconds, pushed another three her way. The four points she earned moved her within striking distance of Jack Beckman who is now just 41 points ahead of her. If she can pick up two points on Beckman tomorrow and get Beckman’s lead under 40 points it would be equivalent to cutting a round off his lead on here.

“Running really well is great. The fact that we got some bonus points was even better. You have to look towards Sunday. The little points in qualifying matter a lot but they don’t matter as much as round wins. When you can make good passes in the day time and at night it shows that my crew chiefs have a good handle on this Mustang. That is especially key when you have a new body on your racecar. It is just a huge sigh of relief for us because you just don’t know will it run the same or will it run different. Now we have a good hold of it. Hopefully we can continue to run well tomorrow.”

The Queen of Hearts Castrol Ford Mustang Force Hood is racing this weekend has drawn a lot of positive feedback from the fans and her team.

“Everyone seems to be really excited. It is neat to be here in Vegas since it is a perfect theme for this weekend. It is always great when you do a special body and you can run good. You hate to put all that work in to design and decal and then not have it run as well as you want. You never want that. It is exciting to have that little bit of magic that maybe it is the body especially when it is a body that has all your teammates faces on it,” said Force Hood.

While Force Hood is making up ground herself team leader John Force is also focused on reeling in young Matt Hagan who moved around him into the points lead in Reading, Pennsylvania. Force picked up one point on Hagan in qualifying but the 14-time champion is focused on the big picture and not the pressure of the situation.

“Pressure is what you are supposed to feel. If you are not in it mentally and the gut ached ain’t there then maybe you just don’t care. At the end of the day I am saying we have to outrun this guy (Matt Hagan). We can’t wait for him to fail. We have two good cars right now that went down safe. Ashley ran a 4.03 and I ran a 4.05. Robert will get in there. I feel better than I did this morning,” said Force.

A John Force Racing team member that has a unique position and level of experience is Force Hood co-crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli who was a long time crewman for Force and now calls the tuning shots along with Ron Douglas on the Castrol GTX Mustang.

“Job one is for John Force Racing to win. John Force has the best chance of winning the championship so he is the car we need to perform the best. Robert (Hight) and Ashley’s cars both need to run as well as John’s Mustang because we need to be able to take out the competition. That is the only way for him to win. If John and Hagan go to the finals the next two races even if John wins he still won’t get the championship. We need to be able to run as good as John to take Hagan out. That is out goal and at the same time we have a long shot to get our own championship too,” said Antonelli.

The Auto Club Mustang piloted by Robert Hight struggled on Friday smoking the tires in each session. It recorded the 15^th quickest run on Friday. Hight will have two shots tomorrow to race his Mustang into the show. The list of non-qualifier Funny Car will make it interesting on Saturday as at least eight teams will be vying for spots in the top sixteen including Hight, Tim Wilkerson, Del Worsham, and Tony Pedregon.

The final two qualifying nitro sessions will be contested at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. 

* * * *

THE DRIVERS:

JOHN FORCE, 61, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang
Friday Qualifying: 2^nd at 4.059 seconds, 311.70 mph
Qualifying bonus points: +2 (2^nd quickest of Q2)
Quotable: “Pressure is what you are supposed to feel. If you are not in it mentally and the gut ached ain’t there then maybe you just don’t care. At the end of the day I am saying we have to outrun this guy (Matt Hagan). We can’t wait for him to fail.” – JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 27, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
Friday Qualifying: 1^st at 4.032 seconds, 309.70 mph
Qualifying bonus points: +4 (3^rd quickest of Q1 and quickest of Q2)
Quotable: “We’re approaching each round just trying to run the best possible run we can run.  We’re not thinking about records or other people in the field, we’re not letting ourselves think like that.  We’re just going to take each run as it goes.” – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 41, Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang
Friday Qualifying: 15^th quickest at 5.317 seconds, 141.11 mph
Qualifying bonus points: 0

World of Outlaws World Finals 5 Days

Countdown to the Lowes Foods World of Outlaws World Finals Presented By Bimbo Bakeries and Tom’s Snacks: 5 Days

Concord, NC-October 30, 2010- The Fourth Annual Lowes Foods World of Outlaws World Finals Presented By Bimbo Bakeries and Tom’s Snacks at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina is quickly approaching, November 4-6 for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, along with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds. In the 15 days leading up to the three-day action packed season ender, World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series drivers will share their thoughts on what has become one of the “Must See” marquee events of the year.

Next up is Jason Meyers, the current World of Outlaws point leader, who is chasing his first career series title. The California native has competed in each of the three previous World Finals, making history by winning the first-ever A-Feature event during the inaugural 2007 edition of the season ending event. He has finished eighth or better in all six of the main events held during the World Finals. In his career at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Meyers has won twice and has racked up 12 Top-10 Finishes with seven Top-Fives. He has finished ninth or better in each of his last nine starts at the track. Meyers has won 10 times this season and holds a 96-point lead on four-time and defending series champion Donny Schatz heading into the World Finals.

 

Jason Meyers, Driver of the No. 14 GLR Investments KPC:

“It’s been a great event since they put it together down in Charlotte and I’ve always enjoyed it. Every year the race track has been good and the racing has been good. We’re looking forward to going down there again this year and with them adding the Big Block Modifieds this year, I’m anxious to see what that will do to the race track. It should be a packed house again this year and a great race. Charlotte is a big horsepower track, but you have to get your car to roll around there as well. It’s a little bit different than any other track we go to and we’ve had a good car down there the last few years. You have to be able to roll the corner there and be able to get the horsepower to the ground. We’re really looking forward to heading over there.”