Chatting with Cody Coughlin:
“We had a good test last week at Charlotte, and I think we hit on some things that will work in our favor for Kansas this week. We were able to work on some setups to help us across the board on our intermediate packages, and now it’s just a matter of fine-tuning when we unload at the race track. As a rookie driver, that’s important. The more I can focus on learning the track and less about the handling, the more we can get out of a race weekend. Fortunately, I’ve been to Kansas. Although we didn’t have a good run there last year, the track time, and the testing last week, will give me confidence going into this weekend, and hopefully we can have a strong finish.” 
News & Notes:
- Chassis Chatter… The No. 13 ThorSport Racing (TSR) team will unload chassis No. 53 for Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS. This is the same chassis Ben Rhodes had a strong run with in 2016 at Kansas Speedway. Rhodes led the field three times for five laps and was contending for the race win on the last lap.
- Kansas Speedway Stats… Coughlin has one start to his credit at the 1.5-mile track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS), and one start in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. In 2014, Coughlin started ninth and finished fourth in the ARCA Racing Series. In 2016, the JEGS driver started 14th and finished 27th in the NCWTS.
- Around the Track… Seat time is important to rookie driver, Cody Coughlin. In the five weeks the NCWTS has had off, the ThorSport Racing driver has been racing in the ARCA/CRA Super Series at Toledo Speedway and Anderson Speedway.
- Acceleration Nation… Prior to making his second start at Kansas Speedway on Friday, Coughlin will visit Prairie Star Elementary school in Leawood, KS on Wednesday afternoon, with teammate Ben Rhodes, as part of the NASCAR Acceleration Nation program. The duo will talk to 490 students, from kindergarten to fifth-grade, about aerodynamics and energy in racing.
- World Vision… In advance of Mother’s Day, Coughlin, along with his TSR teammates are working with Toyota Racing and the Kansas City Toyota region, to support the efforts of World Vision in the Kansas City community. The drivers will assemble women’s hope kits, on Thursday afternoon, that will be delivered to several local charities.
- Chasing Rookie of the Year… Coughlin, who finished 19th in the series last stop at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, is currently fifth in the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle after three of 23 races.
- Truck Series Stats… Coughlin has made 15 NCWTS starts since 2015, with a career-best start of seventh at Talladega (Al.) Superspeedway (2016), and a career-best finish of 11th at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2017).
- Rearview Mirror – Martinsville… Starting 27th, Coughlin battled through adversity in the 250-lap event, and was fighting for his first career top-10 finish when he was taken out of contention on the last lap, and settled for a 19th-place finish in his Martinsville Speedway debut.
- Catch Cody in Kansas… On Friday, May 12, Coughlin, along with his TSR teammates, will be at Toyota Pit Pass in the Fan Midway from 1:30-1:50pm CT, will participate in the NCWTS autograph session in the Fan Zone from 2:00-2:45pm CT, and will also make an appearance at the RIDE TV display in the Fan Midway from 5:00-5:30pm CT.