The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, Nev.) Oct. 30-Nov. 2
Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will continue his title defense at this weekend’s NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas. Coughlin Jr. will be racing the Dodge Dart he debuted last March in Gainesville, Fla.
This is the fifth event in the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoff to determine the season champions. Jeg Jr. will enter the Countdown as the No. 8 seed in Pro Stock. Jeg begins the Countdown 155 points behind leader Jason Line.
During the 18-race regular season, Jeg Jr. appeared in five final rounds and claimed victories in Atlanta and Englishtown.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. continues to race as a teammate to former NHRA Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson in 2014. Jeg Jr.’s Dodge Dart is powered by HEMI engines from Johnson’s J&J Racing team and is tuned by Johnson’s crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Adam Hornberger.
During his professional career, which began in 1997, Jeg Jr. has earned 14 top-10 finishes in the NHRA Pro Stock class. He already has clinched a berth in the 2014 Countdown to the Championship, which guarantees a 15th top-10 finish.
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 2007. In both finals, he lost to Greg Anderson.
Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field 13 times in Las Vegas including a best of No.1 in 2007 and 2008, and the most recent event in April, 2014. During his career, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top spot 20 times.
In 25 appearances at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (including the Spring event held in April), Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 43-18 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 Full Throttle 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 mph, both recorded earlier this year in Gainesville.
Jeg Jr. is one of just 16 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 and Greg Anderson.
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 history to win a national event title from all 16 starting spots. During his Indy win in 2000, Jeg qualified No. 16.
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.
Jeg 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.
In 22 races this season, Jeg Jr. has two wins, three runner-up finishes and four semifinals to his credit. His overall record for the year is 33-20.
With 58 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.
In 352 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 98 times, recording 58 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 74 times, tying him with Greg Anderson for ninth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 120 final rounds, 98 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.
Of Jeg Jr.’s 566-career round wins in Pro Stock, 93 have come via a starting line holeshot, the most of any past or current NHRA Pro driver.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 352 events and recorded 566 round wins while incurring just 278 losses. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
The NHRA Toyota Nationals will also mark the tenth and final race in the ten-event 2014 NHRA Pro Mod Series. Former series champion Troy Coughlin will be behind the wheel of turbocharged JEGS.com Chevy Corvette.
Troy enters the Las Vegas finale as the second-ranked Pro Mod driver in the series. He is currently 76-points behind leader Rickie Smith.
Troy was the winner at NHRA Pro Mod Series events in Norwalk, Ohio and Concord, N.C. He has also used a semifinal finish at Indy and a quarterfinal finish in St. Louis to climb back into title contention.
In his most recent NHRA Pro Mod appearance in St. Louis, Troy qualified reached the semifinals before losing to Rickie Smith.
Troy is one of just seven Pro Mod racers who have qualified for all seven events contested this season. His best performance thus far has come in Indianapolis, where he was the No. 2 qualifier in the 16-car field.
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 as win over Zack Barkledge in the final round.
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 ten NHRA national event wins in 24 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.
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.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. has combined for 107 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, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers
NHRA Toyota Nationals Edition
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
24 – Number of different facilities where Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event title
107 – Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
844 – Pro Stock elimination rounds for Jeg Jr. with 566 wins, 278 losses (.671-percent)