Coughlin returns to victory lane at Anderson

May 5—ANDERSON — Although Cody Coughlin hadn't compete in a late model for several years, his return to Anderson Speedway brought a dominant performance.

Coughlin set a track record Saturday for the Champion Racing Association JEGS All-Stars Tour O'Reilly Auto Parts 100.

It was Coughlin's third JEGS All Stars Pro Late Model victory at the track, tying him with Trent Snyder.

He turned a lap of 11.992 seconds, shattering the mark set by Travis Braden in 2020 at 12.14 seconds.

The redraw had Blake Rowe and Evan Barney on the front row with Coughlin starting fourth.

Rowe took the lead and was immediately chased by Coughlin with Varney and Chase Pinsonneault rounding out the top four.

Coughlin ran in Rowe's tire tracks for the first 19 laps and finally took the point on Lap 20 with an outside pass in Turn 3.

From there, Coughlin pulled away from Jimmy Tucker and Rowe when the caution flag waved on Lap 41 for an incident involving JP Crabtree and Brandon Varney.

The race was red-flagged on the restart when it appeared Pinsonneault missed a shift and collected the car of Dylan Stovall, ending the night for both drivers.

Coughlin again opened a comfortable lead over Rowe and Brett Robinson when the final caution flag waved on Lap 96.

Coughlin maintained the lead over the final five circuits finishing .6 of a second in front of Rowe and Robinson.

"The car was great," Coughlin said in the Riley & Son Victory Lane. "I haven't raced a late model in a couple of years. Obviously a fairy tale return."

Coughlin said he lost some grip on the last restart and was a little worried about it.

Rowe said Coughlin had the car to beat.

"I was 110% trying to run with him at the very beginning and on the last restarts," he said. "Rather me in victory lane but I appreciate Cody racing us right."

Robinson said the two front-runners had a little more speed, and the way they were racing he thought they might use up their equipment.

"I hate finishing third. I hate finishing second," he said. "This is like the fourth time that I've been up front."

Ron Phipps led all 30 laps of the Ford Division Spring Championship by holding off Colson Gray and Noah Austin.

Doug Dugger picked up the Thunder Roadster win over John Robbins and Brad Kendall.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.