Team JEGS Prerace Notes:
Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals
Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals
Atlanta Dragway
Commerce, Ga.
(May 3-6, 2017)
The JEGS Mail Order team will be well represented during this weekend’s 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Six-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will lead the effort behind the wheel of the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Camaro in Pro Stock while his wife, Samantha, will take her turn in the JEGS.com Corvette Super Gas car. Troy Coughlin Jr. will drive the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster fielded by Kalitta Motorsports. Coughlin’s father, Troy, will also be in action in the J&A Services Pro Mod series with his JEGS.com Corvette.
Jeg Jr. will continue his pursuit of a sixth NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock title (and seventh overall) at this weekend’s event. Jeg Jr. will be driving a Rick Jones Race Cars-built Chevy Camaro as a member of the Elite Motorsports team.
Following last weekend’s Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Jeg. Jr. enters this week’s Atlanta race as the No. 5 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class. So far this year, Jeg Jr. has a best finish of a runner-up at the Houston round.
Last season, Jeg Jr. raced a Dodge Dart for the Elite team and recorded the 16th top-10 finish of
his career.
Rick Jones Race Cars-built Chevy
Camaro driven by Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Jeg Jr. is once again racing as a teammate to two-time world champ Erica Enders. The four-car Elite team also includes Pro Stock racers Vincent Nobile and Alex Laughlin. Veteran crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Brian “Lump” Self are the tuners of the Elite Pro Stock cars and regularly share data.
Jeg Jr. is a three-time winner of the Atlanta event. He defeated Bruce Allen to win his first title in 2000 and defeated then-teammate Allen Johnson in the final of the 2010 event, scoring his landmark 50th Pro Stock title. He also won the 2014 event by beating Greg Anderson in the final. In addition to his three wins, Jeg Jr. was a runner-up in 2009 to Mike Edwards.
As a sportsman racer, Jeg Jr. also won the Competition Eliminator title in Atlanta in 1997. That season, he made history by winning national event titles in four separate eliminators (Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock and Super Gas).
In 16 career appearances at Atlanta Dragway, Jeg Jr. has a 25-11 record in Pro Stock eliminations.
Prior to the start of the event, Jeg Jr. will attend the annual Night of Champions event at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. The special celebration recognizes all of the past professional champions in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
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 in Gainesville in 2014. Two weekends ago in Houston, he ran a best of 6.499 seconds, his best run in the fuel injection era.
Jeg Jr. is one of just 18 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, Greg Anderson, and Jason Line.
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.
Including Atlanta Dragway, Jeg Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities making him the all-time leader in that category. The only current venues on the NHRA Mello Yello tour where he has not won are the tracks in Norwalk and Epping.
Jeg Jr. has been the No. 1 qualifier in the Pro Stock class at the last two events in Houston and Charlotte. He has now been the No. 1 qualifier at 22 events during his career.
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 Jr. qualified No. 16.
With 58 Pro Stock wins in his career, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Greg Anderson (87), and Bob Glidden (85) and have more titles.
With 595 round wins, Jeg Jr. is on the verge of catching 10-time champion Bob Glidden, who registered 597 wins during his career. Jeg Jr. can catch Glidden with a semifinal finish this weekend.
In 387 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 101 times, recording 58 wins. Including his 18 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 76 times, good for ninth place on NHRA’s all-time victory list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 125 final rounds, 101 as a professional and 24 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 387 events and has a round-win record of 595-313. He has red-lighted just 22 times and failed to qualify just 16 times.
In 2017, Troy Coughlin Jr. carried on a longstanding family tradition when he joined his grandfather, Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin Sr., in the Top Fuel class. Jeg Sr. raced Top Fuel from 1977-79. He finished No. 7 in the 1978 standings and recorded career bests of 5.97-seconds and 249.30 mph during his career.
Troy Coughlin Jr. continues to pursue his first Top Fuel wally this weekend in Atlanta.
Troy Jr. is driving the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster, which is owned by drag racing and aviation legend Connie Kalitta. The car is tuned by veteran crew chief Jim Oberhofer. Troy Jr. is racing as a teammate to 42-time national event winner Doug Kalitta and 2013 Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon. Troy Jr.’s teammates also include Funny Car drivers J.R. Todd and Alexis DeJoria.
Following last weekend’s Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Troy Jr. enters this week’s Atlanta race as the No. 9 ranked driver in the Top Fuel class. So far this year, Troy Jr. has reached the quarterfinals at three events in Pomona, Gainesville and Houston. His best elapsed time is a 3.696 recorded in Phoenix and his best speed is 328.86 mph recorded in Gainesville.
Troy Jr. is driving the same SealMaster dragster that J.R. Todd drove to six final rounds last season including a victory in Sonoma.
Troy Jr. is expected to be one of the leading contenders for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award that honors NHRA’s top professional rookie. Troy Jr’s uncle, Jeg Jr. was named NHRA rookie of the year in 1998 after a second-place finish in the Pro Stock class.
Troy Jr. is a five-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major event. Troy Jr. 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.
Troy Jr. is also the 2013 NHRA North Central Division Super Gas champion.
During his career, Troy Jr. 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, Troy Jr. is also 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.
The Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals will mark the fourth race in the 12-event 2017 J&A Services Pro Mod Series. Two-time series champion Troy Coughlin will continue his quest for a third title behind the wheel of his turbocharged JEGS.com C7 Corvette.
Last weekend in Charlotte, Troy was the low qualifier with a 5.770-second run and then drove to the final round in the unique Four-Wide Nationals. Coughlin finished runner up to Mike Castellana.
In Pro Mod, Troy heads into
Atlanta second in points.
The JEGS.com Pro Mod Corvette is tuned by noted turbocharger expert Steve Petty. With a top speed in excess of 260-mph, Troy is one of the fastest drivers in the Pro Mod class. He has also recorded a personal best elapsed time of
5.766-seconds.
Following last weekend’s Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, Troy enters this week’s Atlanta race as the No. 2 ranked driver in the Pro Mod class. He trails leader Mike Castellana by just 63 points. In addition to his semifinal finish in Charlotte, Troy was also a semifinalist at the season-opener
in Gainesville.
Last year, Troy battled for the title until the final event of the season before finishing a close second to eventual champ Rickie Smith. He claimed three wins in Englishtown, St. Louis, and the season-ending event in Las Vegas.
Last season, Troy was one of just four Pro Mod racers, along with Michael Biehle, Steven Whiteley, and Rickie Smith, who qualified for all ten events. In the last two seasons, Coughlin is the only driver to qualify for all 20 races. His last DNQ was the 2013 Charlotte event. He has since qualified for 34-straight events.
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 10 NHRA national event wins in 25 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.
Samantha Coughlin is making her first start of the season behind the wheel of the
JEGS.com Corvette.
Samantha is a former NHRA national event champion. She won the Super Comp title at the 2009 Norwalk event.
Samantha is the daughter of former NHRA Super Comp national champion Al Kenny and the sister of multi-time Divisional champ Jason Kenny.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. has combined for 113 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, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster.