John Coughlin's racing career is veering away from individual accolades and focusing instead on building a championship team.

Coughlin has won multiple drag racing championships and numerous events as a driver, but has recently taken a step back to nurture the circle track career of his son Cody, who drives a JEGS.com-branded Late Model Stock Car.

"Being a drag racer, I don't have a lot to offer as far as advice with the Late Model car but what I have enjoyed quite a bit since Cody started driving is hiring the right people and putting them in a position to succeed," John said. "We've really got a good group together and it's refreshing to see them do their thing and get positive results."

An added side benefit of John's decision to take a step back from racing himself has been the extra family time he gets traveling from racetrack to racetrack with his wife, Diana, and children Cody and Kennedi.

"It was actually a lot of fun to ease back on my racing schedule and spend so much quality time with Di and the kids, Cody and Jelly (Kennedi)," Coughlin said. "We've done so much together in the last few years and had a lot of fun supporting Cody on the weekends."

Team building has been a huge part of John's life and career.

As a sponsor, his JEGS Mail Order hot rods have racked up victories in a variety of classes with top-notch drivers like Anthony Bertozzi, Brad Plourd, "Fast Jack" Beckman, and Hugh Meeks III. As a brother, he's become the No. 1 supporter of the racing endeavors of siblings Troy, Mike, and Jeg Jr.

John's impressive career started with weekends on "Pop's" crew when his Hall-of-Fame father, Jeg Sr., was barnstorming the central states in the original fleet of JEGS racecars. That early exposure to drag racing lit the fire for John, and by age 20 he had won his first event -- the IHRA 1994 Winternationals in Darlington, S.C.

His success continued in the '90s, as John won NHRA national event titles in Super Stock and Super Gas, as well as a near miss of the ultra-competitive Super Gas NHRA National Championship in 1992.

He also won back-to-back North Central Division championships in the Super Gas category in 1994 and 1995, securing Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event victories at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Quaker City Dragway, and Houston Raceway Park along the way.

John and Mike then raced in the now-defunct Pro Stock Truck category, and John’s JEGS.com Chevrolet racked up 27 round wins, including a runner-up finish at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indy and wins in St. Louis and Columbus over a three-year span.

After the Pro Stock Truck class was eliminated, the gifted racer returned to his Sportsman roots and quickly made his way back to the winner's circle, piloting his Super Stock JEGS Chevy Cavalier to victory in his first race back.

John and Mike went in together on an extra-special Father's Day gift in 2003, celebrating respective wins in Super Stock and Super Comp at National Trail Raceway with their dad taking it all in from the starting line.

In 2007, John debuted a new B&B Race Cars Chevy Cobalt Super Stocker and an Undercover Chassis rail that he piloted to his first Top Dragster championship. Also that year, he finished second in Division 3 in Super Stock and highlighted his season with four Lucas Oil Series wins.

In 2008, John picked up a Super Stock win in Indianapolis and claimed runner-up honors in Norwalk in his Top Dragster entry, finishing in the top 10 in both categories while taking advantage of the opportunity to compete in the invitation-only JEGS Allstars event in Chicago in Super Stock and the JEGS Top Dragster Shootout in his rail.

The 2009 season was another success story. John kicked off the series with a brand new Mullis dragster powered by Sonny Leonard engines, and on the way to earning his second North Central Division Top Dragster championship, he accrued numerous round-wins and two event titles. In Chicago, John took home the trophy and took over the points lead for the first time. He then waged battle to the very end, doing what he had to do in Las Vegas at the final Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of the season -- win the race outright -- to nab the championship.

Last year, Coughlin competed in Top Dragster and Competition Eliminator, with a best finish of second in Competition Eliminator at the Norwalk North Central Division event. In Top Dragster, Coughlin finished third in the Division 3 points standings.

He will once again focus on Cody but plans to race Jeg Jr.'s Undercover dragster at select JEGS Super Quick Series events.