zMax Dragway (Concord, N.C.) April 22-24, 2016
Six-time NHRA world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has returned to the Pro Stock class on a full-time basis in 2016. Jeg Jr. is racing a new Rick Jones Race Cars-built Dodge Dart as a member of the Elite Motorsports team.
Last season, Jeg Jr. took a breather from the Pro Stock class but he did return at mid-season for a brief stint with the Elite Motorsports team. In three events, Jeg Jr. raced to a runner-up and a semifinal.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. has joined the Elite Motorsports team for 2016 and will race a Dodge Dart as a teammate to two-time world champ Erica Enders. The Elite team will also include the Pro Stock entries of Drew Skillman and Vincent Nobile. Rickie Jones is the crew chief for Coughlin’s HEMI-powered Dodge while his father, Rick, is the crew chief for Enders. Veteran crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Brian “Lump” Self, round out the Elite roster as the crew chiefs for Skillman and Nobile, respectively. All four Elite teams and their crew chiefs, regularly share data and tuning advice.
The NHRA Pro Stock class has an entirely different look this season thanks to a number of major rules revisions. Electronic fuel injection has replaced carburetors and as a result, the cars will no longer have big hood scoops. Pro Stock engines are now limited to a maximum of 10,500 rpm and the wheelie bar length has been shortened.
After the first four events of the season in Pomona, Phoenix, Gainesville and Las Vegas, Jeg Jr. enters the Charlotte event ranked No. 7 in the NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock points standings.
During his professional career, which began in 1997, Jeg Jr. has earned 15 top-10 finishes in the NHRA Pro Stock class.
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.’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.484 seconds and his best speed is 214.62 mph, both recorded in Gainesville in 2014.
The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals features a unique format where four racers compete at once. The top two finishers advance to the next round. At the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in 2010, Jeg Jr. qualified No. 1 in the Pro Stock class. During his career, Jeg Jr. has qualified No. 20 times.
While he is yet to win the Four-Wide Nationals, Jeg Jr. has won a Pro Stock race at zMax Dragway. In 2013, he defeated Jason Line in the final round of the track’s fall event, the NHRA Carolina Nationals. That win helped him clinch the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock championship.
Jeg Jr. and then-teammate David Connolly helped christen zMax Dragway and were the first professional drivers to make a run on the drag strip when it opened in 2008.
Last season, Jeg Jr. accomplished a longtime goal with his first national event double. Racing at the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals in Columbus, he won the Super Gas and Stock titles. In Stock, Jeg Jr. drove his Dodge Challenger Drag Pak to the title.
Including zMAx Dragway, Jeg Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities. The only current venues on the NHRA Mello Yello tour where he has not won are the tracks in Norwalk and Epping.
Jeg Jr. is one of just 16 professional racers to win 500 elimination rounds in NHRA competition, a feat he accomplished at the 2013 Topeka race. The only other Pro Stock drivers with 500 wins are Warren Johnson, Bob Glidden and Greg Anderson.
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 58 Pro Stock wins in his career, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Bob Glidden (85) and Greg Anderson (80) have more titles.
In 361 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 100 times, recording 58 wins. Including his 18 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 76 times, good for ninth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 124 final rounds, 100 as a professional and 24 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 361 events and recorded 579 round wins while incurring just 287 losses. He has red-lighted just 20 times and failed to qualify just 16 times.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. has combined for 109 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin’s have won in ten different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers (NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Edition)
7 – Different classes where Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event title (the only driver to do so)
10 – Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
24 – Number of different facilities where Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event title
109 – Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
866 – Pro Stock elimination rounds for Jeg Jr. with 579 wins, 287 losses (.669-percent)