Courtesy Elite Motorsports (Photo Courtesy Elite Motorsports)
LAS VEGAS (April 13, 2024) – It was a pair of firsts for Elite Motorsports Saturday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jerry Tucker and the Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer / SCAG Power Equipment team earned their first No.1 qualifying position while Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his SCAG / Mile Hi Light Beer team won their first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.
Tucker stole the top spot from teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. with a 6.612-second pass at 206.61 mph in the third qualifying session. In just his sophomore season, this is the first No. 1 qualifying position of Tucker’s career.
“It’s pretty difficult to get these cars down the track. I’m just really barely past being a rookie. There’s some added pressure, I’ve got Erica Enders’ car from last year, so it’s used to winning and we’ve had some trouble getting down the track. Everything just kind of lined up and we made three good hits this weekend so far,” Tucker said. “Really, from No. 1 to 16, they’re all tough competitors. I’m not sure there’s much difference from being one or 16. We made a good run down the track right of the trailer, that took a lot of pressure off. We got some luck, made a good pass, it hooked up and went straight and I halfway did my job right, so it just makes the whole weekend just a little bit better.”
Tucker came into Saturday sitting No. 3 after a 6.660-second pass at 205.76 mph early Friday that earned him a bonus point. Friday afternoon the Oklahoma native went quickest of the second session with a 6.670. The Outlaw Mile Hi Beer team’s qualifying efforts earned them a total of seven bonus points. With the No. 1 spot Tucker will take on Chris McGaha, Dallas Glenn and Troy Coughlin Jr. in the first round of eliminations Sunday.
While he didn’t hold onto the No. 1 qualifying position, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and the SCAG Power Equipment / Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer team did pick up their first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory on Saturday afternoon. With a 6.628-second pass at 207.62 mph in the finals, Coughlin Jr. would outrun teammates Troy Coughlin Jr., and Aaron Stanfield as well as rival Dallas Glenn.
“Any win is very special. But being out of the car for a couple years and getting one here in qualifying at Las Vegas feels great. Mission Foods has done so much for NHRA Drag Racing, starting the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge last year and now the Mission Foods Drag Racing series. Big thanks to them for putting this on and for everything they’ve done,” Jeg Jr. said. “We had a pretty mean quad between Aaron Stanfield, myself, Dallas Glenn and Troy Jr. Troy Jr. told me he was going to be .010 on the tree and I was looking to be .015. Little rascal was .011 and we just barely stayed in front of him. We needed all the Elite Performance that I had under the hood to turn on the win light.
Troy Coughlin Jr. would finish second in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge with a 6.647-second pass at 207.46 and, based on speed, Aaron Stanfield would finish fourth in the quad with a 6.661 at 205.16 to Glenn’s matching elapsed time but faster speed of 205.41 mph.
Jeg Jr. ends up in the No. 2 qualifying spot with a 6.625 second pass at 206.64 mph from the third session. He’ll take on Kenny Delco, Deric Kramer and teammate David Cuadra in the first round on Sunday.
“We’ve been building some momentum the last couple of weeks. Phoenix was a great race for us with going No. 1 and then coming in here carrying the No. 1 through Friday, big congrats to Jerry Tucker our teammate who stole that for us, happy for him, and then winning this Challenge. I think a lot of great things are going on and we’re just looking to game day now.”
Eliminations at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway begin at noon with Pro Stock taking the track at 12:40 p.m. Television coverage of the event will continue to be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a second qualifying show Sunday at 11 a.m. ET and an eliminations at 7:00 p.m. ET.
