The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, Nev.) March 28-30th
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will continue his title defense at this weekend’s event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coughlin will be racing the new Dodge Dart that was debuted at the most recent NHRA event in Gainesville, Fla.
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 Dart is once again powered by engines from Johnson’s J&J Racing team and will be tuned by 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 three events in Pomona, Phoenix, and Gainesville.
During his career, Jeg Jr. has won the Pro Stock title five times in Las Vegas. He claimed a win at the inaugural event in 2000 by beating Warren Johnson and returned in 2001 and 2002 to post final round wins over Jim Yates and Warren Johnson, respectively. Jeg Jr. also won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009, beating Greg Stanfield in both final rounds.
In addition to his five Pro Stock wins in Las Vegas, Jeg Jr. has also posted a pair of runner-up finishes at both the spring and fall events in 2001. In both finals, he lost to Greg Anderson.
Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field 12 times in Las Vegas including a best of No.1 in 2007 and 2008. During his career, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top spot 17 times.
In 24 appearances at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (including the Fall event held in October), Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 42-17 in Pro Stock competition.
In addition to his Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. also won the Super Comp title at the Spring Las Vegas race in 2012.
Including The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jeg Coughlin 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 at the most recent event 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.
Of Jeg Jr’s 535-career round wins in Pro Stock, 91 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 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 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 Jr. is the only professional racer in the history of NHRA to win a national event title from all 16 starting spots.
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 333 events and recorded 535 round wins while incurring just 261 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 333 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 Jr., who will be racing in Super Comp and Super Gas with his dragster and ’57 Corvette roadster.
In 2009, a then-19-year old Troy Coughlin Jr. became the first third-generation Coughlin racer to win an NHRA national event title when he won the Super Comp title at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
In his brief NHRA racing career, T.J. Coughlin has already won three national event titles including the 2009 Las Vegas event, the 2010 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, and the 2013 Gatornationals. He also has a runner-up finish at the 2011 JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals in Columbus.
Last season, Troy Jr. finished third in the NHRA Super Gas standings out of more than 950 competitors who earned points.
In addition to his success in NHRA racing, Troy Jr. has also won several big E.T. races including a $25,000 top prize at a race in Atco, N.J. in 2011.
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.
Team JEGS By the Numbers (NHRA Las Vegas edition)
6 Las Vegas victories for Jeg Coughlin Jr. (5 in Pro Stock, 1 in Super Comp)
8 Las Vegas wins for the Coughlin family. (6 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
17 Number of times Jeg Jr. has qualified No. 1 during his Pro Stock career.
100 Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
794 Pro Stock elimination rounds for Jeg Jr. with 535 wins, 261 losses (.672-percent)