Royal Purple Raceway (Baytown, Texas) April 24-26, 2015
The O’Reilly NHRA Springnationals will mark the second event in the 10-race 2015 J&A Services Pro Mod Series. There will be a pair of JEGS Mail Order entries in competition. Former series champion Troy Coughlin will race his new turbocharged JEGS.com Chevy C7 Corvette. He will be joined by his son, Troy Jr. [T.J.] who is in his rookie season in Pro Mod. T.J. is driving the team’s 2014 Corvette Pro Mod entry.
At the 2015 Pro Mod season opener in Gainesville, Troy and T.J. both reached the semifinals. T.J. qualified No. 2 with a career-best 5.87 and Troy was No. 5 with a 5.89. On race day, T.J. defeated Kenny Lang and Bill Glidden before losing to Pete Farber. Troy beat Kevin Fiscus and Mike Janis before his day ended against eventual winner Bob Rahaim.
As a result of their Gainesville performances, T.J. and Troy Coughlin enter the Houston event ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the Pro Mod points standings.
Both of the JEGS.com Pro Mod Corvettes will be 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.
Last year, Troy won a pair of NHRA Pro Mod Series events in Norwalk, Ohio, and Concord, N.C. He finished the season as the series’ second-ranked Pro Mod driver behind champion Rickie Smith.
Troy was one of just seven Pro Mod racers who qualified for all 10 events in 2014. His best qualifying performance came 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 victory in Super Gas. Troy defeated Mary Ann Jackson in the final. Troy’s first Pro Mod victory came in 2005 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey when as he drove his supercharged Mustang to as win over Zack Barkledge.
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 10 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.
T.J. recently upgraded his NHRA competition license with a best run of 5.96 seconds at more than 248 mph.
T.J. is a five-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major drag racing event. T.J. won Super Comp titles at the 2009 Las Vegas race and the 2010 U.S. Nationals. He won a pair of national events last season, the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals.
T.J. also is the 2013 NHRA North Central Division Super Gas champion. Last year, he finished No. 3 in the national standings out of nearly 1,000 competitors.
During his career, T.J. has appeared in nine Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisional final rounds and has claimed three victories.
In addition to his success in NHRA events, T.J. 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 at the Spring Buck Blast at South Georgia Motorsports Park.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and T.J. 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 (O’Reilly Springnationals Edition)
5 – NHRA National event victories for third-generation racer T.J. Coughlin
9 – Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory
10 – NHRA National event victories for Troy Coughlin
107 – Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family