NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The start to the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season wasn’t exactly what five-time Pro Stock world champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. envisioned. But betting against a driver who has 58 wins and 100 final-round appearances on a team that has claimed the past two world championships might not be wise.

Coughlin and the Elite Motorsports team, which also includes back-to-back world champion Erica Enders, have had a frustrating start in the new-look Pro Stock class, as Coughlin and Enders sit seventh and ninth, respectively, in the points standings.

It has been particularly rough for Coughlin in his Magneti Marelli/Elite/JEGS.com Dodge Dart GT lately, as the Pro Stock veteran has posted three straight first-round losses. But Coughlin has continued to push forward and has no doubt the light at the end of the tunnel is near, perhaps even as soon as the 28th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, May 20-22.

"I have been going at it a lot of years, but when I look at the depth of our team, we can add up to a couple hundred years in drag racing collectively,” Coughlin said. “We really see light at the end of the tunnel and know that we're all surrounded with the greatest talents and great engineers and support from Mopar, Magneti Marelli, and the folks at SRT. We certainly felt like we'd be ahead of it by this time, but the fact of the matter is, it’s still a work in progress.

"It's real simple: You can take one of two paths. You can be ho-hum about it and kick the dirt, or you can find something positive in everything that we've been through. That's the way everyone in our group has looked at it. We're looking ahead at the horizon and looking forward to running well and challenging for round-wins and race wins and to be in a position to challenge for the NHRA Mello Yello championship.”

Richie Crampton (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), and Enders (Pro Stock) were last year’s winners at Heartland Park. The race will be televised on FOX Sports 1, including live finals on Sunday. It is the eighth of 24 races during a 2016 campaign that has very much been a challenge for Coughlin and the Elite Motorsports team.

The struggles to find consistency and performance with the new Pro Stock cars, which include fuel-injected engines, shorter wheelie bars, flat hoods, and a 10,500-rpm rev limiter, have been evident. Coughlin has managed only three round-wins and has watched the Summit Racing Equipment tandem of Greg Anderson and Jason Line put together dominating performances in the process.

Line and Anderson have combined to win all seven races thus far. But Coughlin hasn’t lost an ounce of hope or confidence and knows a turnaround will come soon, in part because of how hard he has watched his team work to find solutions.

"We're really, really close,” said Coughlin, a two-time winner at Heartland Park Topeka. “To put a program together as quickly as the Elite Motorsports group and [crew chiefs] Rick and Rickie Jones did, it's not one thing that's held us back that couple hundredths of a second – it's a handful of little things.

“I can promise you there have been no stones left unturned in this camp. Our group is focused on getting the engine happier on the racetrack, accelerating faster, and putting down good elapsed times. We feel like we're pecking away at it, and it feels like we've eliminated what seems like 99 percent of the problems. We're just trying to fine-tune that last 1 percent to get us toward the front of the pack."

Coughlin raced on a limited basis in 2015 and was excited to team up with the Elite Motorsports group for a full season and make a run at a sixth world championship this year. Seeing what the group accomplished the last two years with Enders also makes it easy for Coughlin to believe the best is yet to come.

“With Elite Motorsports, I see a group of champions that took down the last two Pro Stock titles in a dominating fashion,” Coughlin said. “When you step back and look at the big picture, it's really kind of easy to keep the faith. There isn't a person on this team that doesn't think we'll get these two Dodges running at the top of the charts.”

Having those results come soon would be ideal for Coughlin, considering the NHRA Kansas Nationals serves as the second of a six-race stretch over seven weeks. Anderson and Line lead the way in Pro Stock, but Coughlin will also have to deal with the likes of Bo Butner, Chris McGaha, 2014 top rookie Drew Skillman, 2012 world champ Allen Johnson, Vincent Nobile, Shane Gray, and Alex Laughlin. 

"It's definitely going to be an extremely busy stretch,” Coughlin said. “Having a good flow through that stretch would be nice, and if we could get some round-wins and get the performance to turn the corner, that could lead us into the summer months really well – and that could set us in the points a little better. We'll look to this stretch and hopefully pull some positive momentum out of it and get that to propel us into Chicago, the Western Swing, and be ready to go for the [Mello Yello] Countdown [to the Championship]."

Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, May 20, and the final two rounds of qualifying Saturday, May 21, at 1:30 and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday, May 22.

To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, call 800-884-NHRA (6472) or log on to NHRA.com/tickets. Kids 12 and younger will be admitted free in general-admission areas with a paid adult.