Local Racers, NHRA Regulars Compete in Spring Fling

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The hills around Bristol Dragway were alive Friday morning with the ear-splitting sounds and intoxicating smells of muscle cars and sleek rail dragsters.

Over 150 competitors, including two National Hot Rod Association stars, were enticed by the high-stakes of the inaugural K&N Spring Fling 20’s. The event, which began Thursday, offers $20,000-to-win bracket races today and Sunday.

“It doesn’t get any more intense than this,” said Jeg Coughlin, a four-time NHRA Pro Stock champion. “This is the best of the best, and races are measured in thousands of a second.”

For Coughlin, the K&N format represents a welcome stage to hone his instincts and fuel his competitive fire without the glare and pressures of a national event.

“It doesn’t matter how good or expensive your car is out here,” Coughlin said. “This is a one-on-one competition with cars that are pretty much prepared equally. This type of intensity takes a different level of focus and actually helps to renew me.”

On Thursday at Bristol Dragway, Coughlin lost to a local bracket racer. Coughlin ran in the 164-mph range while his competitor ran 120 in a Ford Escort, but the local racer won after he came closer to his dial-in time.

“That’s exactly what this type of racing is all about,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin and NHRA Top Fuel competitor Shawn Langdon will return to Bristol Dragway on June 18-20 for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. According to a dragway official, ticket sales for the Father’s Day weekend event are ahead of last year’s pace when the Nationals were held in mid-May.

Langdon, who finished ninth in NHRA Top Fuel points last year as a rookie, is competing in the Super Pro class this weekend at Bristol. Like Coughlin, Langdon said he feels invigorated by the bracket racing vibe which he termed “cut-throat.”

“These guys don’t come out here just to race for fun or represent their sponsors, they come out here to make a living and feed their family,” Langdon said.

While Langdon is regarded as one of the quickest NHRA drivers in terms of reaction time, he lost in the third round of the Super Pro class Thursday. The margin of victory was eight-thousands of a second.

“That’s how it goes out here man,” Langdon said. “The human reaction is like two-tenths of a second, so you’re losing races faster than you can even think. But this is grassroots racing, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Langdon began his climb to the lofty NHRA ranks in the entry-level Junior Dragster ranks at age 12. After winning two national titles in the Super Comp ranks, Langdon found his niche with a Top Fuel team owned by entrepreneur Forrest Lucas last season.

“It’s been a big learning process just adjusting to everything,” Langdon said. “You are going over 300 mph on the track and doing a lot of work with media off it.”

Though the payoffs have become much more lucrative, Langdon said he has never lost touch with his bracket-racing brethren.

“I used to do what these guys are doing – racing for a living to pay my bills and have a place to live,” Langdon said. “Now when I race a Top Fuel car, it’s all about my team. I’ve got 10 guys that bust their butts all week to prepare and they want to win just as bad as I do.”

And Langdon said Bristol Dragway would be the perfect setting to record a breakthrough national event victory.

“I’ve raced here twice before in a Super Comp and Top Fuel car, and I’m hungry to get a win,” Langdon said.

The immediate goal for Coughlin is to win his 50th NHRA Pro Stock. He currently has 49, and said the Father’s Day weekend event would offer a perfect setting.

“We love Bristol,” Coughlin said.

This morning’s schedule at Thunder Valley will feature a King of the Mountain gambler shootout consisting of two separate races, one for door cars and one for dragsters, with the winners of each going head-to-head for the title of “The King of the Mountain.”