Heartland Park Topeka (Topeka, Kan.) – May 23-25
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will continue his title defense at this weekend’s event at Heartland Park Topeka. Coughlin will be racing the new Dodge Dart that was debuted last March in Gainesville, Fla.
Jeg Jr. drove to a victory in his most recent appearance at the last weekend’s NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta. He defeated Greg Anderson in the Pro Stock final, 6.55 to 6.58.
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 in 2014. Coughlin’s Dodge Dart is once again be powered by Hemi 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 fifth-ranked driver in Pro Stock
After the first seven events of the 2014 season, Jeg Jr. has a 10-6 record in elimination rounds.
Including Heartland Park Topeka, Jeg Coughlin 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 track in Norwalk and Epping.
Jeg Jr’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.484-seconds and his best speed is 214.62, both recorded earlier this year in Gainesville behind the wheel of his new JEGS/Mopar Dodge Dart. He is one of just six Pro Stock drivers to run over 214-mph.
Jeg Jr. is the defending Pro Stock class champion in Topeka. Last year, he drove to a final round win over teammate Allen Johnson in an all-Mopar final round. Jeg Jr. also won the Pro Stock title at the 2000 Topeka event, driving his Team JEGS entry to a final round win over Darrell Alderman.
In addition to his two wins, Jeg Jr. also has a runner-up finish at this event in Pro Stock 1998, in his first appearance at Heartland Park Topeka as a professional. Jeg Jr. lost to Warren Johnson in that final.
Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field in 10 of his 13 appearances at Heartland Park Topeka including a best of No. 1 in 2000. Jeg Jr. has been the No. 1 qualifier 20 times in his career.
As a sportsman racer, Jeg Jr. won the Super Stock title in Topeka in 1994 and earned a runner-up finish in Competition Eliminator in 1997. That season, he set an NHRA record by winning national events in four separate classes; Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, and Super Gas.
In 14 career appearances at Heartland Park Topeka, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 22-11 in Pro Stock competition.
Following his 2013 victory at Heartland Park Topeka, Jeg Jr. 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 three drivers, along with Peter Biondo and Scotty Richardson, 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 Jr. is the only professional racer in the history of NHRA to win a national event title from all 16 starting spots.
Of Jeg Jr’s 543-career round wins in Pro Stock, 92 have come via a starting line holeshot, which is the most of any past or current NHRA Pro driver.
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 337 events and recorded 543 round wins while incurring just 264 losses. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
In his 337 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr has reached the final round 94 times, recording 57 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr has won a total of 73 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr has appeared in 116 final rounds, 94 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.
With 57-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 Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr, and Troy Jr. has combined for 101 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.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers (NHRA Southern Nationals Edition)
3 National event victories for Jeg Coughlin Jr. at Heartland Park Topeka (two in Pro Stock, one in Super Stock)
9 Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
20 Number of times Jeg Jr. has qualified No. 1 in a Pro Stock field
101 Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
807 Pro Stock elimination rounds for Jeg Jr. with 543 wins, 264 losses (.672-percent)