Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis, Ind. (April 29 – May 1, 2016)
There will be three JEGS Mail Order cars entered in this weekend’s Ray Skillman Auto Group NHRA Spring Spectacle of Speed including Mike Coughlin in Top Dragster, and his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. in Super Comp and Super Gas. The event is the first of six races in the North Central Division NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
Mike Coughlin will be returning to the Top Dragster class after a successful run in Top Sportsman that included a pair of championships. Mike will be debuting a new dragster that is expected to run in the 6.2-second zone at speeds of close to 220-mph. Mike’s crew consists of Greg Cody and Tony Collier.
Mike is a two-time winner of the Indy Lucas Oil series event in Top Sportsman. In 2008 he defeated Tim Kirman in the final round and in 2011, he drove his JEGS.com entry to a final round victory over Billy Thoman.
In 2008, Mike Coughlin and older brother, John, both found the winner’s circle at Lucas Oil Raceway when John claimed the Super Stock title and Mike won in Top Sportsman.
Troy Jr. is a five-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major event. Troy Jr. won Super Comp titles at the 2009 Las Vegas race and the 2010 U.S. Nationals. He also has three Super Gas victories in Gainesville (2013) Indianapolis (2014) and the JEGS SPORTSnationals in Columbus (2014).
Last year, Troy Jr. raced in the J&A Services Pro Mod series. More recently, he earned his NHRA license in the Top Fuel category in a Don Schumacher Racing dragster, running over 320-mph in the process.
Troy Jr. is also the 2013 NHRA North Central Division Super Gas champion.
During his career, Troy Jr. has appeared in nine Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisional final rounds and has claimed three victories.
In addition to his success in NHRA events, Troy Jr. is also 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.
The Coughlin family has also won the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway nine times. In addition to Jeg Jr’s four Pro Stock wins, his brother, Troy, won the Super Gas title in 1991 and Mike collected two wins in the Pro Stock Truck class in 1999 and 2001 and Troy Jr. claimed the Super Comp title in 2010 and Super Gas in 2014. In addition, John Coughlin won the U.S. Nationals as a car owner in 2005 when Brad Plourd drove his JEGS Mail Order dragster to the Super Comp title.
The Coughlin’s have won Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events in nine different classes, Top Fuel, Pro Comp, Super Eliminator, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster, and Top Sportsman.
All told, the Coughlin family has won 54 Lucas Oil Series races in 82 final round appearances. Collectively, the Coughlin family has appeared in 11 final rounds at the Indianapolis Lucas Oil Series event, and has garnered nine wins.
Jeg Coughlin Sr., Jeg Coughlin Jr., and John Coughlin have each won four North Central Division season championships while Mike Coughlin has two and Troy Jr. has one for a total of 15.
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.
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.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers (NHRA North Central Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Indianapolis Edition)
3 – JEGS Mail Order entries in action in Indianapolis
9 – Divisional wins in Indianapolis for the Coughlin family in 11 final rounds
15 – Total North Central Division championships for the Coughlin family
54 – Total NHRA Divisional wins for the Coughlin family