Norwalk, Ohio (July 4-7)
Jeg Coughlin Jr. enters this weekend’s NHRA National event in Norwalk, Ohio as the second-ranked driver in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings. Jeg Jr. has appeared in four final rounds in the first 12 events of the season and has claimed victories in Topeka and Joliet. He trails current leader Mike Edwards by 128-points.
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 to 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. has never won a Pro Stock race in Norwalk. It is one of just three current facilities where he is winless along with zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C. and New England Dragway, which hosted its first NHRA event just two weeks ago Jeg Jr. has won at least on NHRA national event at 23 different facilities.
In five career appearances in Norwalk, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 5-5 in Pro Stock competition.
At the 2012 Norwalk race, Jeg Jr. qualified No. 1 in the Pro Stock field with a 6.592 elapsed time. It was one of 19 times in his career that Jeg Jr. has been the top qualifier in a Pro Stock field.
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 510-career round wins, 85 have come via a starting line holeshot, which is the most of any past or current Pro Stock driver.
In 12 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 25-10.
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.
In 318 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.
Troy Coughlin will also be in action in Norwalk as the NHRA Pro Mod series makes its sixth stop of the 2013 season. Troy won the NHRA Four Wide Nationals in Charlotte, and drove to a runner-up finishes at the two most recent events in Englishtown, N.J. and Bristol, Tenn. As a result, he is leading the points standings, ten points ahead of Rickie Smith.
Troy Coughlin is the reigning NHRA Pro Mod champ. He will once again be driving the turbocharged Corvette that carried him to the season title in 2012.
Troy’s JEGS.com Corvette is tuned by noted turbocharger expert Steve Petty. With a top speed in excess of 257-mph, Troy is officially the fastest member of the Coughlin family, eclipsing the performance of his father, Jeg Sr., who raced in the Top Fuel class in the early 1980s.
Troy Coughlin has won NHRA national event titles in three classes; Pro Stock, Pro Mod, and Super Gas. His first Pro Mod title came at the Englishtown, N.J. event in 2005.
At last year’s Norwalk event, Troy qualified No. 1 in the Pro Mod field and drove to the final round before losing to Don Walsh Jr.
The JEGS Mail Order team in Norwalk will also be represented by third generation racer Troy Coughlin Jr., who will be racing his JEGS.com dragster in Super Comp and his JEGS.com Corvette roadster in Super Gas.
Troy Coughlin Jr. is a three-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major event. Troy Jr. is currently ranked third in the Lucas Oil Series Super Gas standings after posting both a national and divisional event win this season.
Troy Jr. has already visited the winner’s circle in Norwalk this season as he drove his JEGS.com Corvette to the Super Gas title at the track’s Lucas Oil Series event.
Mike Coughlin will also make a rare NHRA national event appearance behind the wheel of his new JEGS.com Camaro. Mike will be racing his 200-mph car in the Top Sportsman division.
Mike is a two-time North Central Division champion in the Top Sportsman class winning titles in 2007 and 2009.
During his career, Mike has claimed 12 NHRA national event victories in three classes, Pro Stock Truck, Super Comp, and Top Sportsman.
In addition to his 12 NHRA national event titles, Mike has also claimed 11 wins in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing series.
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 (Norwalk Edition)
5 JEGS Mail Order entries in competition for this weekend’s event
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
510 Round wins for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock class.