Auto-Plus Raceway (Gainesville, Fla.) March 13-16
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will continue his title defense at this weekend’s Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway in Gainesville. Coughlin will be debuting a new Mopar Dodge at the event.
Overall, Jeg Jr. has 14 top ten finishes in the NHRA Pro Stock class since his debut in 1997.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. will continue to race as a teammate to former NHRA Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson. Coughlin’s Dodge will once again be powered by engines from Johnson’s J&J Racing team and will be tuned by Johnson’s crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Adam Hornberger.
Jeg Coughlin 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 Coughlin Jr. enters this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event as the eighth-ranked driver in Pro Stock after the first two events in Pomona and Phoenix.
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, and 2013.
In 14 career appearances at Gainesville Raceway, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 27-11 in Pro Stock competition
In his 14 Gainesville races, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field 11 times, including a best of No. 1 at the 1998 event.
Including Auto-Plus Raceway, Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities. The only current venues on the NHRA Full Throttle tour where he has not won are the track in Norwalk and Epping.
Jeg Jr’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.487-seconds recorded last season in Gainesville and his best speed is 213.47 recorded last season at the spring event in Concord, N.C. Jeg Jr. is one of just seven drivers who have run in the 6.4-second zone in NHRA competition. He is one of eight drivers who have run over 213-mph.
Of Jeg Jr’s 534-career round wins in Pro Stock, 89 have come via a starting line holeshot, which is the most of any past or current NHRA Pro driver.
During his victory last year at Heartland Park Topeka, Jeg became just the 12th professional racer to win 500 rounds of NHRA competition. He joins fellow pros John Force, Warren Johnson, Kenny Bernstein, Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon, Bob Glidden, Greg Anderson, Kurt Johnson, Joe Amato, Cory McClenathan, Ron Capps, and Tony Pedregon in that exclusive club.
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.
Jeg Coughlin Jr finished the 2013 season with four wins, four runner-up finishes and seven semifinals in 24 events. For the season, he finished with a 48-20 record in eliminations, second only to Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon, who finished with a 54-17 record.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 332 events and recorded 534 round wins while incurring just 260 losses. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
Jeg Jr.’s most recent NHRA Pro Stock victory came at last October in Reading, Pa. He defeated teammate Allen Johnson to help secure the top spot in the points standings.
In 332 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr has reached the final round 93 times, recording 56 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr has won a total of 72 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr has appeared in 115 final rounds, 93 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.
With 56-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
The JEGS Mail Order team will also be represented by Troy Coughlin, who will be racing in the NHRA Pro Mod series. Troy is a former Pro Mod series champ (2012). He will once again be behind the wheel of his turbocharged JEGS.com Corvette.
Troy’s Corvette is tuned by noted turbocharger expert Steve Petty. Coughlin has recorded 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. Last year, Troy’s son, Troy Jr., drove to the Super Gas title in Gainesville.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr, and Troy Jr. has combined for 100 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.
By-the-Numbers (Amalie Gatornationals edition)
7 – Final round appearances by the Coughlin family at Gainesville Raceway (5 by Jeg Jr., 1 by Troy, and 1 by Troy Jr.).
9 – Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
56 – Career Pro Stock victories for Jeg Coughlin Jr., fourth most in class’ history
100 – Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
794 – Pro Stock elimination rounds for Jeg Jr. with 534 wins, 260 losses (.673-percent)