91°µÍø

Jeg Coughlin Jr. won his second race of the 2019 season by outlasting Fernando Cuadra Sr. by .033-second. He came up short in his quest for a seventh championship but enters the offseason with a good taste in his mouth by earning a win his fourth final of 2019. 

Coughlin qualified in pole position and amassed a haul of bonus points to move within three rounds of Elite Motorsports teammate Erica Enders at the final race of the campaign. That put him in striking distance of Enders, but his teammate took care of business and eliminated him from contention in the second round. 

That didn't stop the JEGS.com Chevy Camaro driver from fighting for the Wally. He defeated Joey Grose, Aaron Stanfield and Bo Butner to reach the final where he took on Cuadra. 

Cuadra took a less conventional path to the second final of his career and his first since the NHRA Countdown to the Championship opener in Reading. He qualified in the No. 6 position to book a matchup against Matt Hartford in the first round. He got past the Elite Motorsports racer by .006-second in the first round to set up a matchup against K.B. Racing teammate Jason Line in the second round.

Line experienced issues and shoved the clutch back in, allowing Cuadra to reach 2019 world champion Erica Enders in the semifinals. Enders did not repeat her second-round car performance in the semifinals and Cuadra drove past her to reach his second final. The two were near even on the Christmas Tree, but Cuadra's Chevy Camaro had enough juice to get a matchup against Coughlin. 

Coughlin entered the NHRA Countdown to the Championship in eighth place and moved up six spots throughout the playoffs to complete a 1-2 finish in the points for Elite Motorsports. It's his second-straight second-place finish after finishing second to Tanner Gray in 2018.