zMax Dragway – Concord, N.C. (April 28-30, 2017)
The JEGS Mail Order team will be well represented during this weekend’s eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Six-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will lead the effort behind the wheel of the JEGS.com/Elite Performance Chevrolet Camaro in Pro Stock and the JEGS.com Corvette roadster in Super Gas. Troy Coughlin will be in action in the J&A Service Pro Mod Series with his JEGS.com Corvette, while his son Troy Coughlin Jr. will drive the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster for Kalitta Motorsports.
Jeg Jr. will continue his pursuit of a sixth NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock title (and seventh overall) in a Rick Jones Race Cars-built Chevy Camaro as a member of the Elite Motorsports team.
After a runner-up finish at the most recent event in Houston, Jeg. Jr. enters this week’s Charlotte race as the No. 4 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class. For Jeg Jr., the Houston race marked his first final round since the 2015 Seattle event.
Last season, Jeg Jr. recorded the 16th top-10 finish of his career.
Jeg Jr. is once again racing as teammate to two-time world champ Erica Enders. The four-car Elite team also includes Pro Stock racers Vincent Nobile and Alex Laughlin. Veteran crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Brian “Lump” Self are the tuners of the Elite Pro Stock cars and regularly share data.
While Jeg Jr. has yet to win the unique Four-Wide Nationals, he did win the fall race in Charlotte in 2013. In that final, which is held under the conventional two-wide format, Jeg Jr. defeated Jason Line to help clinch the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock championship.
In 2008, Jeg Jr. and then-teammate Dave Connolly helped christen zMax Dragway as the first professional drivers to make a run on the drag strip when it opened.
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. Last weekend in Houston, he ran a best of 6.499 seconds, his best run in the fuel-injection era of the class.
Jeg Jr. is one of just 18 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, Greg Anderson and Jason Line.
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.
Including zMax Dragway, Jeg Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities making him the all-time leader in that category. The only current venues on the NHRA Mello Yello tour where he has not won are the tracks in Norwalk and Epping.
Last weekend in Houston, Jeg Jr. was the No. 1 qualifier in the Pro Stock field. It was the 21st time he’s achieved that feat. Jeg Jr. had last qualified No. 1 at the spring Las Vegas race in 2014.
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 Jr. 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), Greg Anderson (87), and Bob Glidden (85) and have more titles.
With 595 round wins, Jeg Jr. is on the verge of catching 10-time champion Bob Glidden, who registered 597 wins during his career. Jeg Jr. can catch Glidden with a semifinal finish this weekend.
In 386 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 101 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 victory list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 125 final rounds, 101 as a professional and 24 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 386 events and has a round-win record of 595-312. He has red-lighted just 22 times and failed to qualify just 16 times.
The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is the third race in the 12-event 2017 J&A Service Pro Mod Series. Two-time series champion Troy Coughlin will continue his quest for a third title behind the wheel of his turbocharged JEGS.com C7 Corvette.
This will be the first time that Pro Mod racers will compete under the Four-Wide format. Using all four lanes of zMax Dragway, the winner and second-place finisher of each heat will advance in eliminations.
The JEGS.com Pro Mod Corvette is tuned by noted turbocharger expert Steve Petty. With a top speed in excess of 260-mph, Troy is one of the fastest drivers in the Pro Mod class. He has also recorded a personal best elapsed time of 5.766-seconds.
At the season-opening event in Gainesville, Fla., Troy Sr. drove to a semifinal finish and followed that with a quarterfinal result last weekend in Houston. He enters this race ranked fifth in the points standings, just 44-points behind leader Mike Castellana.
Last year, Pro Mod racers did not compete in the spring Charlotte event. In the fall race, Troy lost a close Round 1 race to Mike Castellana.
Troy won Pro Mod titles at zMax Dragway in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, he drove from the No. 11 qualifying spot to the final round, where he defeated Mike Janis. Along the way, Coughlin also recorded the quickest run of the event with a 5.845-second elapsed time.
Last year, Troy battled for the world title until the final event of the season, where he finished a close second to eventual champ Rickie Smith despite winning the race. He claimed three wins in Englishtown, St. Louis, and Las Vegas.
Last season, Troy was one of just four Pro Mod racers, along with Michael Biehle, Steven Whiteley, and Rickie Smith, who qualified for all 10 events. In the last two seasons, Coughlin is the only driver to qualify for all 20 races. His last DNQ was the 2013 Charlotte event. He has since qualified for 33 straight events.
Troy won his first NHRA national event title at the U.S. Nationals in 1991 when he drove his Pro Stock-style Olds to the win in Super Gas. Troy defeated Mary Ann Jackson in the final. Troy’s first Pro Mod victory came at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey in 2005 when as he drove his supercharged Mustang to a win over Zack Barkledge.
Troy is one of the few Pro Mod competitors who have raced all three current engine combinations — turbocharged, supercharged, and nitrous oxide-assisted
Before moving to the Pro Mod class, Troy enjoyed success in the NHRA Pro Stock class, recording two wins in 12 final-round appearances. He also won the $50,000 top prize at the 2000 Winston No Bull Showdown at Bristol Dragway, a special non-points event for Pro Stock competitors.
All told, Troy has 10 NHRA national event wins in 25 final-round appearances in Pro Mod, Pro Stock and Super Gas competition.
Troy is a former National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) Pro Street champion. While racing his Pro Street car, he also won the $50,000 Big Dog event at Piedmont Dragway in Greensboro, N.C.
In 2017, Troy Jr. carried on a longstanding family tradition when he joined his grandfather, Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin Sr. in the Top Fuel class. Jeg Sr. raced Top Fuel from 1977-79. He finished No. 7 in the 1978 standings and recorded career bests of 5.97 seconds and 249.30 mph during his career.
Troy Jr. will be making his sixth start behind the wheel of the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster, which is owned by drag racing and aviation legend Connie Kalitta. The car is tuned by veteran crew chief Jim Oberhofer. Troy Jr. is racing as a teammate to 42-time national event winner Doug Kalitta and 2013 Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon. Troy’s teammates also include Funny Car drivers J.R. Todd and Alexis DeJoria.
Troy Jr. enters the Charlotte event as the No. 8 ranked driver in the class. Thus far, he has reached the quarterfinals in Pomona, Gainesville and Houston. His best elapsed time is a 3.696 recorded in Phoenix and his best speed is 328.86 mph recorded in Gainesville.
This will be Troy Jr.’s first time racing in the unique Four Wide format which is used only at the spring race at zMax Dragway.
Troy Jr. is driving the same SealMaster dragster that Todd drove to six final rounds last season including a victory in Sonoma.
Troy Jr. is expected to be one of the leading contenders for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award that honors NHRA’s top professional rookie. Troy Jr’s uncle, Jeg Jr., was named NHRA rookie of the year in 1998 after a second-place finish in the Pro Stock class.
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 won a pair of national events last season, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals.
Troy Jr. also is 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. 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 at the Spring Buck Blast at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. has combined for 113 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin’s have won in nine 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)
4 – Team JEGS entries in action this weekend in Houston in Top Fuel, Pro Stock, Pro Mod and Super Gas
3 – Wins for Team JEGS in Charlotte (two by Troy in Pro Mod and one by Jeg Jr. in Pro Stock)
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
16 – Top 10 finishes for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock class since 1998
113 – Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family