JEGS – Notebook Items (Aug 29th-Sept 3rd)

>>> Just two weeks ago, Pro Stock championship contender Jeg Coughlin Jr. won his landmark 50th career national event. It was his third of the season in six final-round showings and proved his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt is one of the top cars in the class. He finished the first phase of the Countdown to the Championship in third place and is now just 20 points off the POWERade lead.

>>> Every time Jeg Coughlin Jr. wins the U.S. Nationals, he wins the world title the same year. Coughlin’s enviable Indy streak started in 1992 when he beat former sportsman world champion Sherman Adcock in the final of Super Gas. The victory, just the second national event win of his young career, propelled Coughlin to his first world championship (Super Gas) by season’s end.

Eight years later in 2000, Coughlin returned to “the Big Go” in the Pro Stock class. Once again he won the race, this time beating Ron Krisher for his 29th career national event win, and followed up the Indy victory with his second world title and first as a professional.

The trend continued two years later when Coughlin edged Jim Yates in the Pro Stock final for his 38th career win that spurred an incredible stretch run that ultimately awarded him his third world championship (Pro Stock).

>>> In 2004, Jeg Coughlin Jr. won the prestigious Mopar Performance Hemi Challenge at Indy. Driving for Michael Ogburn’s West Coast Hemis team, Coughlin drove a vintage ’68 Barracuda to a final-round victory over Rick Houser, earned the top prize of $10,000.

>>> Pro Mod’s only twin-turbo powered driver will return to action for drag racing’s biggest event when veteran racer Troy Coughlin wheels his JEGS.com Pontiac GTO into Indianapolis for the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Coughlin’s hot rod has undergone massive changes since the last AMS Pro Mod Challenge event eight weeks ago at Bristol Dragway in Tennessee. In order to keep pace with recent rule changes in the Pro Mod class, Coughlin has enlisted the help of his decorated father Jeg Coughlin Sr. to find a better baseline tune-up for his larger engine, three-disk clutch, and five-speed manual transmission.

>>> Team JEGS chef Nicky Morse has prepared meals for royalty, distinguished diplomats, and Ohio’s ultra wealthy at the only four-star restaurant in Columbus. He’s cooked for country music’s brightest stars as part of the support crew for CMT’s “Showcase” program. He’s mentored young apprentices at Ohio State University, and worked elbow-to-elbow with Wolfgang Puck to raise money for cancer research.

Now motorsport’s most decorated chef has opened his personal cookbook to race fans and members of the media by featuring one of his creations each week of the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Complete with step-by-step instructions, Morse divulges a complete recipe on teamjegs.com and NHRA.com that allows budding cooks a chance to create a masterpiece of their own at home.

For this weekend’s 53rd annual U.S. Nationals, Chef Nicky reveals Spicy Eggplant Dip. “Eggplant is not the easiest vegetable to make taste great but after visiting Italy and Greece as a young man, I went to Syria with a lot of eggplant knowledge and created this recipe,” Morse said. “I use it as a dip at parties. It’s a real hit. It can also be used as a layer in lasagna. I’ve even battered shrimp with it for deep frying.”

>>> If momentum counts for anything, John Coughlin should be a real handful when he arrives at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Less than a week ago, Coughlin earned his third NHRA Wally trophy of the season when he claimed a victory in the Spitzer Race Cars Top Dragster Series at the Lucas Oil Series event in Bowling Green, Ky. The win officially locked up the series championship for Coughlin.

Since the Top Dragster class is not contested at Indy, Coughlin will be racing just one car, his Super Stock Chevy Cobalt.

>>> After claiming his first Northern Division title since joining the USAR Hooter’s Pro Cup Series, two-time ASA world champion Gary St. Amant of Team JEGS.com has a clear strategy in place for the upcoming five-race championship series. “I’m not going to change a thing,” St. Amant said.

After finishing the regular season with a win, four third-place finishes, one fifth-place result, and a 10th- and 12th-place ending in eight starts, St. Amant won the Northern Division. He enters this weekend’s Sears Auto Center 250 at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park tied with Southern Division champ Mike Ritch. Because they won their respective divisions, the two men are tied for first place in the new championship rankings with a 20-point advantage on the rest of the field.


Information regarding JEGS Mail Order can be found at www.jegs.com and for media/fan resources check out www.teamjegs.com.

Media Contact:

Scott “Woody” Woodruff
JEGS, Director of Media & Motorsports
Office: 800.345.4545 (3.412)
Mobile: 614.595.1820
Fax: 740.362.4385
Email: jegspr@aol.com -or- scott.woodruff@jegs.com