Team Jegs Preview Bowling Green

TEAM JEGS Prerace Notes
JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals
TEAM JEGS Prerace Notes
JEGS NHRA SPORTSnationals
Beech Bend Raceway Park, Bowling Green, Ky.
May 26-28

The JEGS SPORTSnationals presented by Quick Fuel Technology will once again return to Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., this weekend. This will be the second year that the event has returned to its birthplace. The original SPORTSnationals was held in Bowling Green from 1974-81 and 1985-86.

Mike Coughlin
There will be two JEGS Mail Order cars entered in this weekend’s JEGS SPORTSnationals including Mike Coughlin in Top Dragster presented by Racing RVs.com, and his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. in
Super Comp.

Mike will be racing the same Top Dragster he drove to a win earlier this season in his 2017 debut at the Circle K Winternationals in Pomona. In that event, Mike ran as quick as 6.05 seconds and defeated Andy Spiegel in the final round.

Mike’s Dan Page-built dragster is equipped with a ProCharger and is capable of running in the five-second zone at more than 230-mph. Mike’s crew consists of Greg Cody, Ryan Micke and Tony Collier.

Last year, Mike returned to the Top Dragster class after a successful run in Top Sportsman that included a pair of Division 3 championships in 2007-2009.

Last weekend at the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event in Norwalk, Ohio, Mike qualified No. 7 in the Top Dragster class with a 6.177-second elapsed time and posted a quarterfinal 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.

With four wins and two runner-up finishes, Mike is one of the most successful racers in the history of the JEGS SPORTSnationals. He won the Super Comp title in 2005 and claimed Top Sportsman titles in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Mike was a runner-up in 2005 at the Columbus event and in 2009 in Belle Rose.

Troy Coughlin Jr. talks with Kalitta Motorsports teammate, Doug Kalitta
Troy Coughlin Jr. is taking a break from his duties as the driver of the 330-mph SealMaster Top Fuel dragster for Kalitta Motorsports and return to his Sportsman roots. Troy Jr. will be racing a new Super Comp dragster that will soon be piloted by his younger sister Paige.

Troy Jr. is a five-time NHRA national event winner and the first third-generation Coughlin to win a major drag racing event. Troy Jr. won Super Comp titles at the 2009 Las Vegas race and the 2010 U.S. Nationals. He also has three Super Gas victories in Gainesville (2013) Indianapolis (2014) and the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals in Columbus (2014).

Troy Jr. also is the 2013 NHRA North Central Division Super Gas champion.

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 in the Spring Buck Blast at South Georgia
Motorsports Park.

The Coughlin family has won eight Lucas Oil Series events at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Jeg Coughlin Sr., won the Pro Comp title in 1975. John Coughlin won in Top Dragster in 2007. Mike won the Super Comp title in 1989. Troy Coughlin Sr. won in Super Comp in 1991 and Jeg Coughlin Jr., has won three times, twice in Super Gas (1992, 1993) and once in Super Stock (1996). More recently, Troy Coughlin Jr. won the Super Gas title in Bowling Green in 2014.

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.