LAS VEGAS — The Victor Cagnazzi Racing/Jegs.com Chevy Cobalt looks like the same car that carried Jeg Coughlin to his third National Hot Rod Ass’n championship last November.
 It isn’t. It underwent extensive interior redecorating this winter. But the driver proved Saturday in winning the third annual Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown at The Strip @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway that he hasn’t changed a bit.
Coughlin qualified No. 1 with a 6.685-second elapsed time and eliminated Vinnie Deceglie, V Gaines, Greg Anderson and Allen Johnson — three of them in Dodge Stratus entries — for the $5,000 payout.
The first and only preseason shakedown for most of the teams, the event was part of the Last Chance Test Session before the 24-race schedule begins Thursday at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif., with the Carquest Winternationals.
Coughlin used a .016-second reaction time to speed away from Johnson in the final round and win with a 6.711-second pass at 204.94 mph to the Team Mopar headliner’s 6.735/203.92.
He had a bit of a mission, as well, trying to overshadow the debut of the Pontiac GXP for rivals Greg Anderson, Greg Stanfield, and Jim Yates. Dave Connolly, Coughlin’s teammate and last year’s Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown winner, is sidelined, one of a dozen or more drivers stunned in early January by Torco’s sudden withdrawal of support. The victory, Coughlin said, might help rebuild his team.
He said team owner Cagnazzi “has been working around the clock to find a replacement sponsor for my teammate Dave Connolly. So it’s wonderful to give him this lift and bring some more attention to his awesome race team.”
While Coughlin was trying not to get rusty in the off-season, competing in the Thanksgiving Bracket Nationals at this pristinely prepared drag strip last November, his team was hard at work.
“We’re starting the season with the same chassis we won the title with last year, but aside from the basic framework, the car is totally new,” Coughlin said. “We spent the whole off season just trying to put this Chevy Cobalt back together. We went through everything, putting in all new wiring, all new plumbing.
“It was a total team effort this winter from everyone within Victor Cagnazzi Racing,” he said. “Todd Bevis and his crew took the car and the chassis and figured out how to lighten it by 25 pounds. They have really designed a unique piece, unlike anything out there, and it clearly is a very fast race car.”
Anderson and Stanfield took their new Pontiac GXPs to the semifinals.
Coughlin said beforehand that he was “anxious to see how we measure up.” Holding his latest trophy, he said, “So far, we look pretty good.”