ARSLANIAN INJURED

Sport Compact Pro Rear Wheel Drive hitter Ara Arslanian, owner of Bullish Racing, was involved in a 190 mile per hour crash at the wheel of his Street Glow-sponsored Toyota Solara in the July 31 first round of qualifying for the NOPI race at Maple Grove Raceway. The car moved toward the centerline around 1100 feet and then veered quickly to the guardrail, hitting almost head-on. The Toyota skated down to the shutoff area, landing in the top-end safety net. Arslanian was cut from the car and then airlifted to a local hospital for monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit with a concussion.

"It was a bumpy ride to say the least," said Arslanian from his Pennsylvania hospital room. "But I'm ready to get back into the driver's seat as soon as they let me."

There was no word from physicians if Arslanian will be cleared for competition at the 4th Annual Mazda NHRA Sport Compact Nationals at the Texas Motorplex on August 7-8 with his back-up car formerly driven by George Ioannou. (Zak Hawthorne photo) [8-2-2004]

TROY COUGHLIN TO SIT OUT REST OF SEASON

NHRA POWERade Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin has decided to sit out the rest of the season to spend more time with his family.

"Family is always and has always been my No. 1 priority in life," explained Coughlin. "I have four children and two of them are showing a lot of interest in getting behind the wheel to start their racing careers. My oldest daughter Meghan turned 16 this year and Troy Jr is 13 years old. They both want to race and that's a decision they made. I want to devote more time and energy to help them. I want to race with my kids and obviously a 23-race professional schedule, helping to run our family business Jeg's Mail Order and having a family doesn't leave a lot of time to actively help my kids the way I want to."

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John, who is the oldest of the Coughlin brothers, competes in Super Stock in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Mike will continue competing in Super Comp and Super Gas in the sportsman ranks and Jeg Jr will fly the yellow and black Jeg's Mail Order colors in Pro Stock.

"I will still continue driving in the NHRA going forward and I am considering a lot of options right now," said Coughlin. "I am looking into Top Sportsman and Super Gas. Like I said, I have a lot of options and some decisions to make before anything is finalized on what I will be driving next year. I don't look at this decision as an end by any means. I think it is very consistent with the beliefs of our family and something that I am really looking forward to. My dad helped all four of us (John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr), taking this same approach years ago and it will be great to see it happen again for the third generation." [8-2-2004]