Fresh off his 35th career Pro Stock victory at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, Jeg Coughlin Jr. spent an off day making high-speed turns around the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the back seat of Indy racer
Stephan Gregorie's IRL test racer.

"What a rush!" the two-time Pro Stock champion said after three laps around the 13-turn circuit, where he reached estimated top speeds of 160-plus mph. "The concentration these guys and girls need to get around a course like this at those speeds is just incredible. We need several minutes of intense concentration to make a quarter-mile pass. These guys stay at that level for two hours or more. It's just phenomenal." Fresh off his 35th career Pro Stock victory at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago, Jeg Coughlin Jr. spent an off day making high-speed turns around the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the back seat of Indy racer
Stephan Gregorie's IRL test racer.

"What a rush!" the two-time Pro Stock champion said after three laps around the 13-turn circuit, where he reached estimated top speeds of 160-plus mph. "The concentration these guys and girls need to get around a course like this at those speeds is just incredible. We need several minutes of intense concentration to make a quarter-mile pass. These guys stay at that level for two hours or more. It's just phenomenal."

Coughlin has taken numerous laps around Mid-Ohio in the past as part of the various driving courses they offer. But it wasn't until the Indy Racing League drivers arrived in town to test for the Honda 200, which takes place July 22, that Coughlin had a chance to make the quickest passes the track can hold.

"The feeling of speed and the various G-forces you experience around the corners are really cool," said Coughlin, who routinely posts quarter-mile runs of 6.6 seconds at 210 mph. "Being in the back seat, your view is somewhat restricted, but it's still awesome. I guess I'll have to take the wheel myself next time. I
think that would be fun to try.

"Stephan is obviously a very talented and experienced professional driver. He made it look easy. When you come off that back stretch at 160 mph and go into that turn it gets your attention, especially the first time through, but those cars are just glued to the track. They're very different from a Pro Stock car."

Coughlin's father, Jeg Coughlin Sr., also experienced a lap around the course with Gregorie. According to his decorated son, he enjoyed the experience quite a bit. "He thought it was very cool," the younger Coughlin said. "He had a big smile on his face when the helmet came off."