Bandimere Speedway (Denver, Colo.
July 19-21
Jeg Coughlin Jr. enters this weekend’s NHRA National event in Denver as the third-ranked driver in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings. Jeg Jr. has appeared in four final rounds in the first 13 events of the season and has claimed victories in Topeka and Joliet.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. will once again pursue the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock championship in 2013. Jeg Jr. is driving the same JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger that carried him a ninth-place finish last season. It was the 13th time in his career that Jeg Jr. has finished in the top ten.
Jeg Jr. won back-to-back Pro Stock titles at Bandimere Speedway in 1998 and 1999, driving to a final round victory over Warren Johnson in 1998 and his brother, Troy Coughlin, in 1999. Jeg Jr. was also a runner-up at the 2011 Denver, race, losing to current teammate Allen Johnson and also a finalist in 2003, losing to Warren Johnson.
In 13 career appearances at Bandimere Speedway, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 20-11 in Pro Stock competition.
Jeg Jr’s average qualifying position in Denver is No. 8. His best qualifying efforts came in 1999 and 2010 when he was No. 2. Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the field in eight of his 13 appearances in Denver.
The JEGS Mail Order team made a major change to their Pro Stock program this winter when Jeg Jr. joined forces with reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson. This year, Coughlin’s Dodge is powered by HEMI engines from Johnson’s J&J Racing team and is tuned by Johnson’s crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Jim Yates.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is a four-time NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion. He earned season titles in 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2008. As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr. also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.
During his victory earlier this 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, and Tony Pedregon in that exclusive club.
With 54-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.
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.
Of Jeg Jr’s 511-career round wins, 85 have come via a starting line holeshot, which is the most of any past or current Pro Stock driver.
In 13 races this season, Jeg Jr. has two wins, two runner-up finishes and four semifinals to his credit. His overall record for the year is 26-11.
Jeg Jr’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.487-seconds and his best speed is 213.23-mph both recorded at the 2013 Amalie Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.
Including Bandimere Speedway, Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 23 different facilities. The only current venues on the NHRA Full Throttle tour where he has not won are the track in Norwalk, Charlotte, and Epping.
In 319 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 89 times, recording 54 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 70 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 111 final rounds, 89 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr., and Troy Jr. has combined for 97 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 (Mopar Mile-High Nationals Edition)
4 Final round appearances in Pro Stock for Jeg Coughlin Jr. at Bandimere Speedway (2 wins, 2-runner-up finishes)
9 Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
19 Number of times Jeg Jr. has qualified No. 1 in a Pro Stock field
97 NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
511 Round wins for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock class.