Jeg Coughlin Sr. sees a bright future
for drag racing’s electric enterprise
DELAWARE, Ohio (Jan. 3) – Science fiction fans and pop culture enthusiasts alike are familiar with the voice of actor William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk explaining the five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise at the beginning of each episode of Star Trek. Kirk ends his oration with, “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
In five months time, drag racing pioneer and icon Jeg Coughlin Sr. and his team of “scientists” at JEGS High Performance have boldly embarked on a new age of competition with the future stars of the sport exclusively in mind for a revolutionary adventure.
The idea sparked from a conversation with the folks at electric car innovators Tesla Motors some two-plus years ago. Coughlin, 79, set himself to the task of developing a reliable electric motor combination for Jr. Dragsters, the half-scale category near and dear to the Coughlin family and tens of thousands of kids throughout the world.
“I wanted something for my grandchildren to drive,” Coughlin said. “I wanted to them to have an electric motor car that’s easy to maintain and easy to tune. We’ve done that with what we have going now.”
What Coughlin and the team at the Jr. Dragster racing division of JEGS, helmed by David Ruark, have is a turn-key conversion kit touted as the best and most proven way to easily turn a alcohol-powered Jr. Dragster into an electric machine. Even its developers have been surprised with its ease of tuning, its ease of maintenance, and, grab a seat for this one – Its long term cost savings.
“You can install this motor and the kit we’ve developed and never have to buy another motor for your Jr. Dragster,” Ruark said. “Even as your child gets older and moves on to quicker classes, this motor can move from class to class with a few simple adjustments of voltage and amps. There is no need to get a different motor for each class, and that alone is going to save people a lot of money in the long run.
“Plus, we’ve taken away the cost of fuel. To refuel our car you just have to plug it in between rounds.”