Gusty Comeback Leads to Strong Points Night for Coughlin in Mansfield
MANSFIELD, OH – A gutsy comeback resulted in a strong points night in the JEGS / CRA All-Stars Tour for Cody Coughlin at Spitzer Motor Speedway. Coughlin started third in the Pro Late Model race and finished there as well, but that finish came after 125 laps of hard work.
The 20-year-old driver was involved in two separate incidents, neither of which were of his making. In turn three on the first lap, Coughlin was put in the middle of a three-wide situation. He wisely backed out to not push the issue, but got slammed from behind.
The damage from that incident was completely cosmetic, so the Joe Gibbs Racing Development driver continued on in the third position.
A few laps later, the Delaware, Ohio driver was battling with the No. 81 of Tristan Van Wieringen when the two cars made contact in turn two. Both drivers went around, but Coughlin suffered heavy damage to the front end of his No. 1 Team JEGS Toyota Camry.
Coughlin came to pit road where his crew made quick repairs to his race car. He rejoined the field with a heavily taped up front end in the 18th position.
After that, Coughlin methodically worked his way back through the field. With the help of plenty of cautions, Coughlin made his way back into the top five.
Coughlin had two late restarts to hold off the drivers behind him and ended up with an impressive third-place finish.
“All things considered, this was a great points night,” said Coughlin. “It can be hard to race when guys are constantly bouncing off of you, but we overcame it all and got a strong finish out of this.”
After his closest competitor, and crew chief, Jack Smith fell out of the race after being involved in that lap one incident, Coughlin saw his points lead increase once again.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Coughlin said. “If we keep having performances like that, even though it wasn’t a win, we’ll get this championship.
“I have to thank all of my guys for their hard work. I feel bad that Jack was caught up in that deal early in the race, but I can’t thank him enough for all of his hard work on my car. Kevin (Hamlin, team manager), Scott (Wimmer, spotter) and Dave (Holt, crew member) work so hard on this car. Hopefully, we can close out this championship this year to reward them for their work. I also have to thank my parents (Di and John) and my sister Kennedi for their continued love and support. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family.”
For more information on Cody Coughlin and Team JEGS, visit www.teamjegs.com and follow Cody on Twitter, @Cody_Coughlin. Follow Team JEGS on Twitter, @TeamJEGS, and “Like” JEGS Performance on Facebook. Also be sure to check out Cody’s website, www.codycoughlin.com. Any other inquiries for Cody Coughlin can be sent to Bob Dillner via email at bd51sports@gmail.com.
Sources: Bob Dillner/Cody Coughlin Racing PR