Beech Bend Raceway Park (Bowling Green, Ky.) August 23-25
There will be five JEGS Mail Order cars entered in this weekend’s North Central Division Lucas Oil Series event in Bowling Green, Ky., including Mike Coughlin in Top Dragster, his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. in Top Alcohol Dragster and Super Comp, niece, Paige in Super Comp.
The event is the fifth of six races in the 2019 North Central Division NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
Troy Jr. is a seven-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major event. Troy Jr. won the U.S. Nationals in Super Comp in 2010 and also won the Indy Super Gas title in 2014. His other wins have come in Las Vegas (2009), Gainesville (2013), Columbus (2014), Reading (2018), and most recently Norwalk (2019).
Troy Jr. was crowned the 2018 North Central Region Top Alcohol Dragster champion and finished the season as the No. 4 ranked driver in the country. He was also crowned the 2013 NHRA North Central Division Super Gas champion.
So far this season, Troy Jr. has appeared in six final rounds in Top Alcohol Dragster and has a win at the Norwalk national event and the Lucas Oil Series regional event at Atco Dragway. He enters this event as the No. 4 ranked driver in the country.
During his successful rookie season (2018) in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, Troy Jr. won four races and appeared in six final rounds. He won his first race when he drove his Rich McPhillips-owned dragster to the win at the NHRA Regional event in Norwalk. He later claimed additional regional wins in Cecil County, Md., and Bowling Green, Ky. He also won the national event in Reading, Pa.
During his career, the versatile Troy Jr. has raced in Top Fuel, Top Alcohol Dragster, Pro Mod, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster, E.T. Brackets, and Jr. Dragsters.
In addition to his success in NHRA events, Troy Jr. also is regarded as one of the sport's best E.T. bracket racers. He has accumulated several major victories including a $25,000 payday at the Atco Dragway Superbucks event and a $10,000 win the Spring Buck Blast at South Georgia Motorsports Park. He also won a $20,000 race at the Powerball of Bracket Racing event in Darlington, S.C.
Mike Coughlin is one of the leading contenders for the national championship in Top Dragster presented by Racing RVs.com. He enters the Bowling Green race as the No. 5 ranked driver in the nation and is just 46-points out of first place.
Earlier this season, Mike won the Top Dragster class with his supercharged dragster at back-to-back events in Indianapolis and Chicago. They were Mike’s first Divisional wins in two years and the 13th and 14th of his career.
In addition to his success at divisional races, Mike is also 14-time NHRA national event winner. He has won national event titles in Pro Stock Truck, Super Comp, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster.
Mike began his career in the Super Gas and Super Comp classes in the 1980s and has extensive experience in the heads-up “super classes”
Mike is a two-time Division 3 champion in the Top Sportsman class (2007-2009). His crew chief is Tony Collier.
Paige, who recently celebrated her 19th birthday (June 24), made her debut in the Super Comp class in 2017 and has raced sporadically while continuing her education at Miami University of Ohio. Paige’s crew chief is Justin Beaver.
Before transitioning to the Super Comp class, Paige got her start in racing behind the wheel of a Jr. Dragster.
So far this season, Paige has raced in six NHRA events and has shown steady progress with a quarterfinal in Norwalk and additional late-round finishes in Chicago and Indianapolis.
Paige is the daughter of three-time NHRA Pro Mod series champion Troy Coughlin, and the younger sister of two-time Division 3 champion Troy Coughlin Jr.
The Coughlin’s have won Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events in ten different classes, Top Fuel, Pro Comp, Top Alcohol Dragster, Super Eliminator, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster, and Top Sportsman.
The Coughlin’s have won Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events at 20 different tracks across North America including races in six of NHRA’s seven geographic divisions. They have not won in Division 6, the Pacific Northwest.
Jeg Coughlin Sr., Jeg Coughlin Jr., and John Coughlin have each won four North Central Division season championships while Mike Coughlin and Troy Coughlin Jr. have two each for a total of 16.
Family patriarch Jeg Coughlin Sr. won his first Lucas Oil Series event when he claimed the Super Eliminator title at Windsor Dragway in Windsor, Ontario in 1969.
The Coughlin family has won nine Lucas Oil Series events at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Jeg Coughlin Sr., won the Pro Comp title in 1975. John Coughlin won in Top Dragster in 2007. Mike won the Super Comp title in 1989. Troy Coughlin Sr., won in Super Comp in 1991 and Jeg Coughlin Jr., has won three times, twice in Super Gas (1992, 1993) and once in Super Stock (1996). More recently, Troy Coughlin Jr. won the Super Gas title in Bowling Green in 2014 and the Top Alcohol Dragster title in 2018.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers (NHRA North Central Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Beech Bend Raceway Park)
2 Division 3 championships for Mike Coughlin
9 Lucas Oil Series victories for the Coughlin family in Bowling Green
16 Total North Central Division championships for the Coughlin family
20 Different tracks where the Coughlin family has won at least one divisional event
62 Total NHRA Divisional wins for the Coughlin family