Gainesville, Fla. (March 14-17)
Jeg Coughlin Jr. will once again pursue the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock championship in 2013. Jeg Jr. is driving the same JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger that carried him a ninth-place finish last season. It was the 13th time in his career that Jeg Jr. has finished in the top ten.
The JEGS Mail Order team made a major change to their Pro Stock program this winter when Jeg Jr. joined forces with reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson. This year, Coughlin’s Dodge will be powered by engines from Johnson’s J&J Racing team and will be tuned by Johnson’s crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Jim Yates.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. enters this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event as the fourth-ranked driver in Pro Stock following his runner-up finish at the season-opening Winternationals in Pomona. Jeg Jr. is currently just 22-points behind leader Vincent Nobile.
During his career, Jeg Jr. has won the Pro Stock title twice in Gainesville. He claimed his first win in 2001 by beating Mark Osborne in the final round and then stopped Jason Line to win his second title in 2008. Jeg was also a runner-up in Gainesville in 2002, 2003, 2004.
In 13 career appearances at Gainesville Raceway, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 24-10 in Pro Stock competition
In his 13 Gainesville races, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field ten times, including a best of No. 1 at the 1998 event.
In 308 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 86 times, recording 52 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 68 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 108 final rounds, 86 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is a four-time NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion. He earned season titles in 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2008. As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.
Jeg Jr‘s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.520-seconds and his best speed is 212.29-mph both recorded at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C. in 2010. However, he has recently run in the 6.4-second zone during pre-season testing.
Jeg Jr’s most recent NHRA victory came in the Super Comp class at the spring Las Vegas event in April 2012.
On March 15, family patriarch Jeg Coughlin Sr. will celebrate his 75th birthday in Gainesville.
In March 2011, Jeg Coughlin Sr. was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, located at “Big Daddy” Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Fla.
With 52-career Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (96), Bob Glidden (85) and Greg Anderson (74) have more titles
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 308 events and recorded 489 round wins while incurring just 240 losses. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
Of Jeg Jr’s 489 round wins, 84 have come via a starting line holeshot, which is the most of any past or current Pro Stock driver.
Jeg Jr. is one of only two drivers, along with Peter Biondo, to win national event titles in six different categories. He has won in Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Top Dragster.
While in Gainesville, Jeg Jr. plans to take part in the Sunday morning tack walk, which will benefit the Darrell Gwynn Foundation. The track walk is a popular event which allows fans to join NHRA drivers in a walk down the quarter-mile track. The event also raises money to purchase motorized wheelchairs for those in need.
The JEGS Mail Order team will also be represented by Troy Coughlin, who will be racing in the NHRA Pro Mod series and his son, Troy Jr., who will be doing double duty in Super Comp and Super Gas.
Troy Coughlin is the reigning NHRA Pro Mod champ. He will once again be driving the turbocharged Corvette that carried him to the season title at last year’s Las Vegas event.
Troy’s Corvette is tuned by noted turbocharger expert Steve Petty. Last year, Coughlin drove to a best elapsed time of 5.82-seconds, and a top speed of 257.97 mph, making him the quickest and fastest member of the Coughlin family.
Troy Coughlin has won NHRA national event titles in three classes; Pro Stock, Pro Mod, and Super Gas.
Troy also posted a runner-up finish in Pro Stock at the 2000 NHRA Gatornationals, falling to Warren Johnson in the final.
Troy Jr. is the first third-generation Coughlin racer to win a major NHRA drag racing title. He is also an accomplished E.T. bracket driver with several big wins on his résumé.
Troy Jr. will be racing his JEGS.com dragster in the Super Comp class and also driving the JEGS.com ’57 Corvette roadster in Super Gas.
Troy Jr. is a former two-time NHRA national event champion in the Super Comp class. He scored wins at the 2009 Las Vegas event and the 2010 U.S. Nationals at Indy.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr, and Troy Jr. has combined for 93 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin’s have won in 9 different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster.
Team JEGS
By the Numbers
Amalie Gatornationals edition
4 JEGS Mail Order entries in action in Gainesville. (1 driven by Jeg Coughlin Jr., 1 by Troy Coughlin Sr., and 2 by Troy Coughlin Jr.)
6 Final round appearances by the Coughlin family at Gainesville Raceway (five by Jeg Jr., and one by Troy).
9 Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
75 Jeg Coughlin Sr. will celebrate his 75th birthday during the Amalie Gatornationals (Friday, March 15)
93 NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family