Download Print Pro Stock Driver Coughlin is Top Mopar as No.2 Qualifier at NHRA Midwest Nationals Mopar’s Jeg Coughlin Jr earns Pro Stock No.2 qualifier position for third annual AAA Insurance National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Midwest Nationals near St. Louis Allen Johnson seeded seventh for Sunday Pro Stock eliminations at Gateway Motorsports Park Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) quartet of Funny Car drivers qualify sixth through ninth led by Tommy Johnson Jr.'s Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T September 27, 2014 , Madison, Illinois - Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. was the top Mopar in final qualifying as he drove his JEGS.com Dodge Dart to No.2 qualifier position at the third annual AAA Insurance National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis, Missouri, in preparation for the third of six playoff nationals events in the NHRA “Countdown to the Championship”. The Mopar Dodge Darts were strong in the Saturday qualifying with both Coughlin and his Johnson & Johnson HEMI-powered teammate Allen Johnson gaining valuable points in the Countdown with top-three runs in the final two sessions. Coughlin put his JEGS.com Mopar in the second spot on the time sheets in the third qualifying session of the weekend with a 6.532-second elapsed time run at 211.66 mile per hour, while Johnson was right behind him in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” machine with the third quickest run of Q3 by posting a 6.536/211.93. Coughlin improved again in the final session by running the second quickest time once again with a 6.522/212.53 to put him in the No.2 spot on the Pro Stock eliminations ladder. He’ll be paired up against Deric Kramer and his HEMI-powered Dodge Avenger in the first round of Sunday’s Midwest Nationals. Even after improving his elapsed time with the fifth quickest run of the final session, Johnson was seeded seventh by running a 6.531/212.26 to meet up with Richie Stevens as his first round opponent. After difficulties on his first three passes, V. Gaines got in a good run with his Dodge Avenger to move up into the 12 spot in qualifying with a 6.565/211.00 lap. He’ll have Shane Gray in the opposing lane for his first round of eliminations. The top spot in Pro Stock qualifying was taken by Erica Enders-Stevens who was quickest in all four sessions and earned the No.1 seed with a 5.511/213.03. Don Schumacher Racing’s (DSR) Funny Car foursome of Dodge Charger R/T drivers qualified sixth through ninth with Tommy Johnson Jr. leading his teammates. The Make-A-Wish Mopar driver earned the sixth spot on the eliminations ladder with his best run of 4.053/ 315.78 from Friday and is hoping to go rounds on Sunday to move up from his sixth place standing in the Countdown points. Tommy Johnson Jr. will be matched-up with Tim Wilkerson in the first round of eliminations. Matt Hagan’s Mopar Express Lane machine, which has already made a trip to the winner’s circle in the Countdown, improved to a 4.071/315.49 to earn the seventh seeded position on the ladder. Hagan will have Alexis DeJoria as his opening round opponent as he tries to move up from his third place spot in the championship standings. DSR’s Ron Capps ran his quickest lap of the weekend in Q3, the third best of the session with a 4.125/302.35 lap, to earn a valuable bonus point to his fifth place ranking in the battle for the 2014 Funny Car Championship and make the top half of the 16-car eliminations ladder with a eighth place seeding. His first round opponent will be his Mopar teammate Jack Beckman, whose best effort of 4.078/311.49 in the second session put him in the ninth spot on the qualifying sheets. A fifth Dodge Charger R/T will be on the eliminations ladder in 15th place as Jeff Arend qualified with a best pass of 4.169/304.67 and will have Cruz Pedregon to contend in the first round. The No.1 seed for Funny Car eliminations was earned by 16-time NHRA Champion John Force with a 4.022 elapsed time run at 319.52 mph In NHRA Sportsman racing at the Midwest Nationals, among 61 Stock Eliminator class entrants, Luke Ubelhor secured the No.1 Qualifier position in his 5.7L 2009 Challenger Drag Pak with manual transmission by running a 10.360-second elapsed time pass. In eliminations, Ubelhor advanced to the second round where he saw hopes of a title win end with a loss to Brina Splingaire. An hour and a half of Mello Yellow Drag Racing series qualifying highlights from the third annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals will be broadcast on ESPN2 on Sunday, Sept. 28, at 3:30 a.m. (ET). Three hours of elimination round coverage from Gateway Motorsports Park, the third stop in four consecutive weekend NHRA national events and the third of the six-event playoff series referred to as the “Countdown to the Championship”, will air Sunday evening starting at 8:30 p.m. (ET). 2014 Countdown to the Championship Standings (Following the Final qualifying at NHRA Midwest Nationals) PRO STOCK (season wins in parentheses) 1. Jason Line – 2304 (4) 2. Dave Connolly – 2258 (2) 3. Shane Gray 2257 (1) 4. Erica Enders-Stevens – 2256 (4) 5. Jonathan Gray – 2225 (1) 6. Vincent Nobile – 2221 (1) 7. Allen Johnson – Dodge Dart – 2200 (4) 8. Jeg Coughlin Jr. – Dodge Dart – 2191 (2) 9. V. Gaines – Dodge Dart – 2135 10. Chris McGaha – 2104 FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses) 1. John Force – 2304 (3) 2. Robert Hight – 2253 (5) 3. Matt Hagan – Dodge Charger R/T – 2242 (2) 4. Courtney Force – 2234 (3) 5. Ron Capps – Dodge Charger R/T – 2198 (2) 6t. Alexis DeJoria – 2196 (3) 6t. Tommy Johnson Jr. – Dodge Charger R/T – 2196 (1) 8. Del Worsham – 2173 9. Tim Wilkerson – 2155 10. Cruz Pedregon – 2135 (1) 11. Jack Beckman – Dodge Charger R/T – 974 About Mopar Motorsports Mopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2014, Mopar celebrates the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the GEN III 426 Race HEMI® and looks to defend back-to-back NHRA World Championship titles (2012-2013) in the Pro Stock class and battle for another Funny Car World Championship after wins in 2011-2012. While Mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honour its roots by being a proud supporter of amateur racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar Sportsman Cup. Mopar Brand Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product but truly made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era. From Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, the brand soon expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, Mopar is FCA’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 130 markets, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for FCA brands. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for FCA vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com. Mopar-first Features Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including: Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with customers Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format. First to offer complete vehicle-information kits in Spanish Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot Wireless charging: first to introduce in-vehicle wireless charging for portable devices Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters wiAdvisor: first to provide factory-connected tablet technology in the service lane for instant vehicle diagnosis wiTech: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car NHRA Mopar Midwest St. Louis Coughlin Qualifying