zMax Dragway (Concord, NC) October 11-13
The JEGS Mail Order team will be represented at the NGK NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord by Jeg Coughlin Jr. Mike Coughlin, and Troy Coughlin Jr. Jeg Jr. will be racing in the Pro Stock class. Mike is racing in Top Dragster and third-generation racer Troy Jr. is racing in Top Alcohol Dragster.
All three of the JEGS.com entries will be adorned in a special pink paint scheme to commemorate breast cancer awareness month. To date, the JEGS Foundation has donated more than $15 million to help transform cancer treatment and research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, including the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is continuing his pursuit of a sixth NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock title (and seventh overall) at this weekend’s Concord event. Jeg Jr. will once again be racing as a member of the Elite Motorsports team.
Earlier this year in Phoenix, Jeg won his 62nd Pro Stock event and 81st overall when he defeated Matt Hartford in the final round. The final round represented the 1,000th round of professional competition for Jeg Jr.
Last season, Jeg Jr. finished at the No. 2 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class. He finished in the top ten for the 18th time in his career, which began in 1997.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. is once again racing as a teammate to two-time world champ Erica Enders. The Elite team also includes Pro Stock racers Alex Laughlin and Aaron Stanfield. Jeg Jr.’s crew chief is multi-talented Rickie Jones, who has extensive experience as a driver, chassis builder, and tuner. The Elite team also includes crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Brian “Lump” Self, who regularly share data.
Following a quarterfinal finish in St. Louis, Jeg Jr. is the No. 6 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class. He is 94-points behind leader Jason Line with four races remaining.
Jeg Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities including zMAx Dragway The only stops on the on the NHRA Mello Yello tour where he has not won a race are Norwalk, Ohio and Epping, N.H.
Since Jeg Jr. has already clinched his spot in the Countdown to the Championship meaning he will finish in the top ten in Pro Stock for the 19th time in his career.
Jeg Jr. won the Carolina Nationals Pro Stock title in 2013 when he defeated Jason Line in the final to help clinch his fifth NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock championship.
Jeg and then-teammate David Connolly helped christen zMax Dragway and were the first professional drivers to make a run on the drag strip when it opened in 2008.
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. is the only driver to win national event titles in seven different categories. He has won in Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, 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.
With 62 Pro Stock wins in his career, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Greg Anderson (93), and the late Bob Glidden (85) and have more titles.
In 443 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 108 times, recording 62 wins. Including his 19 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 81 times, good for ninth place on NHRA's all-time list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 133 final rounds, 108 as a professional and 25 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 443 events and has a round-win record of 660-365. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
Jeg Jr. has been the low qualifier 30 times in Pro Stock including once this season at the Seattle event in August.
Mike Coughlin will also continue his pursuit of the Top Dragster championship in Concord. Mike is currently ranked No. 7 in the competitive class with his supercharged JEGS.com dragster.
Earlier this year, Mike won back to back titles at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events in Indianapolis and Joliet. He also raced in the double-header event in Sonoma, Calif. and recorded a semifinal and a respectable round three finish.
Mike is a 14-time NHRA national event winner. He has won national event titles in Pro Stock Truck, Super Comp, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster.
Mike began his career in the Super Gas and Super Comp classes in the 1980s and has extensive experience in the heads-up “super classes”
Mike is a two-time Division 3 champion in the Top Sportsman class.
Mike’s JEGS.com Top Dragster is supercharged and capable of running low six-second elapsed times at nearly 230-mph. Mike’s crew includes Tony Collier, Greg Cody, and Dave Raurk.
Troy Jr. is a seven-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major event. Troy Jr. won the U.S. Nationals in Super Comp in 2010 and also won the Indy Super Gas title in 2014. His other wins have come in Las Vegas (2009), Gainesville (2013), Columbus (2014), Reading (2018), and most recently Norwalk (2019).
Troy Jr. was crowned the 2018 North Central Region Top Alcohol Dragster champion and finished the season as the No. 4 ranked driver in the country. He was also crowned the 2013 NHRA North Central Division Super Gas champion.
So far this season, Troy Jr. has appeared in ten final rounds in Top Alcohol Dragster and has five wins including national event titles in Norwalk and Reading. Troy Jr. has also earned victories at regional events at Atco Dragway, Beech Bend Raceway Park, and Virginia Motorsports Park. He enters this event as the No. 4 ranked driver in the country.
Last week, Troy Jr. won the NHRA regional event in Richmond, Va., to officially lock up his second-straight Northeast Region championship.
During his successful rookie season (2018) in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, Troy Jr. won four races and appeared in six final rounds. He won his first race when he drove his Rich McPhillips-owned dragster to the win at the NHRA Regional event in Norwalk. He later claimed additional regional wins in Cecil County, Md., and Bowling Green, Ky. He also won the national event in Reading, Pa.
During his career, the versatile Troy Jr. has raced in Top Fuel, Top Alcohol Dragster, Pro Mod, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster, E.T. Brackets, and Jr. Dragsters.
In addition to his success in NHRA events, Troy Jr. also is regarded as one of the sport's best E.T. bracket racers. He has accumulated several major victories including a $25,000 payday at the Atco Dragway Superbucks event and a $10,000 win the Spring Buck Blast at South Georgia Motorsports Park. He also won a $20,000 race at the Powerball of Bracket Racing event in Darlington, S.C.
Overall, the Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. have combined for 124 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin's have won in 11 different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Top Alcohol Dragster, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers (NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals edition)
2: Divisional wins in 2019 for Top Dragster contender Mike Coughlin
5: Wins this season for Troy Coughlin Jr. in the Top Alcohol Dragster class
7: Different classes where Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event title (the only driver in history to do so)
11: Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
18: Top-10 finishes for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock class since 1998
124: Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family