Auto Club Pomona Raceway
Pomona, Calif. (Feb. 14-17)
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 has finished in the top ten.
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 will be powered by engines from Johnson’s J&J Racing team and will be 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.
In 1998, Jeg Coughlin Jr made his first Winternationals Pro Stock start at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona and reached the final round. He returned to post back-to-back Pro Stock wins at the Winternationals in 1999 and 2000.
In 1999, Jeg Jr defeated his older brother Troy to win the Winternationals Pro Stock title. The Coughlin brothers also raced in the final of the 1999 Denver event, with Jeg Jr also claimed the win in that event.
Jeg Jr also won the special 50th anniversary event held in Pomona during the summer of 2001, as part of NHRA’s golden anniversary celebration. All told, Jeg Jr has six wins and six runner-up finishes in Pro Stock competition in Pomona.
Jeg Jr’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.520-seconds and his best speed is 212.29-mph both recorded at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C. in 2010. However, he has recently run in the 6.4-second zone during pre-season testing.
As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr was also runner-up at the 1995 Winternationals in the Super Stock class, losing a close final against former world champion John Calvert.
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.
In 13 previous appearances at the NHRA Winternationals, Jeg Jr. has a win-loss record of 21-10 in Pro Stock Competition. In 29 career appearances at Auto Club Pomona Raceway, which is also the site of the season-ending Auto Club Finals, Jeg Jr has a round win record of 51-22 in Pro Stock competition.
Jeg Jr’s most recent NHRA victory came in the Super Comp class at the spring Las Vegas event in April 2012.
In 306 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr has reached the final round 85 times, recording 52 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr has won a total of 68 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr has appeared in 107 final rounds, 85 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.
With 52-career Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr and Troy Jr. has combined for 93 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 Winternationals edition
2 – Pro Stock victories for Jeg Jr at the NHRA Winternationals (1999, 2000)
13 – Final round appearances for Jeg Jr in Pro Stock at historic Auto Club Pomona Raceway
52 – Career Pro Stock victories for Jeg Coughlin Jr, fourth most in class’ history
93 – NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family
723 – Pro Stock elimination rounds for Jeg Jr with 484 wins, 238 losses (.669-percent)