Auto Club Raceway Pomona (Pomona, Calif.) Feb. 6-9
The JEGS Mail Order team will be represented at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, by Jeg Coughlin Jr., who will be competing in the Pro Stock class. Jeg Jr. will be joined by teammate Jeff Taylor, who will be driving the JEGS Mail Order Dodge Challenger Drag Pak in Stock Eliminator.
In Pomona, Jeg Jr. will begin his pursuit of a sixth NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock title (and seventh overall). Jeg Jr. will once again be racing as a member of the Elite Motorsports team. His Chevy Camaro will carry the familiar yellow and black colors of JEGS Mail Order along with the special edition JEGS 60th anniversary logo this season.
Jeg Jr. enters the 2020 season with 82 national event victories including 63 in Pro Stock. His most recent Pro Stock win came last November when he won the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals, also held in Pomona. In that event, Jeg Jr. defeated Fernando Cuadra in the final round.
Last year, Jeg Jr. finished as the No. 2 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class behind Elite teammate Erica Enders. It was the second-straight year that he’s been the championship runner-up. Jeg Jr. has now finished in the top ten 19-times in his professional career, which began in 1997.
Jeg Jr. will continue racing as a teammate to three-time champion Erica Enders. The Elite Motorsports team also includes Alex Laughlin, Aaron Stanfield, and Marty Robertson, who is making his Pro Stock debut this season. Jeg’s crew chief is Rickie Jones, who has extensive experience in the class as a driver, chassis builder, and tuner. The Elite team also features crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll, and Brian “Lump” Self, who regularly share data.
Jeg Jr has won at least one national event at 24 different facilities including Auto Club Raceway Pomona. The only current stops on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour where he has not won are the races in Norwalk, Ohio and Epping, N.H.
All told, Jeg Jr. has seven wins and seven runner-up finishes in Pro Stock competition in Pomona. He won the season-opening Winternationals in 1999 and 2000, and also has wins at the season-ending Auto Club Finals in 1995, 2005, 2007, and 2019. He also won the special 50th anniversary event held in Pomona during the summer of 2001 as part of NHRA’s golden anniversary celebration.
In 1998, Jeg Jr. made his first Pro Stock start at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona at the Winternationals and reached the final round. A year later, Jeg Jr. defeated his older brother, Troy in the final, to win his first Winternationals Pro Stock title. The Coughlin brothers also raced in the final of the 1999 Denver event, where Jeg Jr. also claimed the win in that event.
In addition to his Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. was also a runner-up in the Super Stock class in Pomona during the 1995 Winternationals.
In 19 appearances at the Winternationals, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the field 13 times including a best of No. 2 (2000, 2008, and 2010).
In 19 career appearances at the Winternationals, Jeg Jr. has a 27-16 record in Pro Stock competition.
Of his 27 round wins at the Winternationals, seven have come via a starting line holeshot. With 105 holeshot wins in his career, Jeg. Jr is the all-time leader among NHRA professional competitors.
In 40 career appearances at Auto Club Pomona Raceway in all events, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 67-33 in Pro Stock competition.
Jeg Jr. is a five-time NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion. He earned season titles in 2000, 2002, 2007-2008 and 2013. As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr. also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.
Jeg Jr. is the only driver to win national event titles in seven different categories. He has won in Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas and Top Dragster.
Jeg Jr. is the only professional racer in history to win a national event title from all 16 starting spots. During his Indy win in 2000, Jeg qualified No. 16.
With 63 Pro Stock wins in his career, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Greg Anderson (94), and the late Bob Glidden (85) and have more titles.
In 447 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 111 times, recording 63 wins. Including his 19 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 82 times. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 136 final rounds, 111 as a professional and 25 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 447 events and has a round-win record of 671-368. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
Jeg Jr. has been the low qualifier 32 times in Pro Stock including three times last season in Seattle, Dallas, and Pomona.
Jeff Taylor is a four-time world champion driver and also an accomplished engine builder who has a long association with the JEGS Mail Order team. Taylor is a 48-time national event winner in Comp, Super Stock, Stock, and Super Comp. Taylor won his first national event at the 1981 Cajun Nationals in Baton Rouge, La.
Taylor has won seven national events in Pomona. He won the season-ending Auto Club Finals in 1991, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2018, and 2019.
In addition to his sportsman racing experience, Taylor also raced briefly in the Pro Stock class in the 1980s. He also served as a crew chief for Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Overall, the Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. have combined for 125 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin's have won in 11 different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Top Alcohol Dragster, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers (Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals edition)
7: Wins Pro Stock wins in Pomona for Jeg Coughlin Jr.
7: Different classes where Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event title (the only driver in history to do so)
11: Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
14: Career Pro Stock final rounds in Pomona for Jeg Coughlin Jr.
19: Top-10 finishes for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock class since 1998
125: Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family