Team JEGS Prerace Notes
NHRA Division 3 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
Team JEGS Prerace Notes
NHRA Division 3 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis (Aug. 10-13)
Mike Coughlin will be racing his JEGS.com Top Dragster in this weekend’s North Central Division double-header weekend. Mike will be joined by his niece, third-generation racer Paige Coughlin, who will be making her second start in the Super Comp class behind the wheel of her JEGS.com dragster.
Mike Coughlin
The event is a double-header weekend. The first race will be the continuation of the Ray Skillman Auto Group Spring Spectacle of Speed, which was postponed by rain last April. The second event will be the Division 3 Summer Shootout.
Mike returns as the No. 1 qualifier in the Top Dragster class for the first event. Mike is entered in both races while Paige will race in the second event.
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, Calif. In that event, Mike ran as quick as 6.05 seconds and defeated Andy Spiegel in the final round.
After competing in three divisional events this year, Mike is ranked No. 13 in the North Central Division Top Dragster class.
Mike’s dragster is equipped with a ProCharger and is capable of running in the five-second zone at speeds in excess of 230 mph. Mike’s crew consists of Greg Cody, Tony Collier and Dave Raurk.
Last year, Mike switched to the Top Dragster class after a successful run in Top Sportsman that included a pair of Division 3 championships.
Mike is a two-time winner of the Indy Lucas Oil series event in Top Sportsman. In 2008 he defeated Tim Kirman in the final round and in 2011 he drove his JEGS.com entry to a final-round victory over Billy Thoman.
In 2008, Mike and older brother John both found the winner’s circle at Lucas Oil Raceway when John claimed the Super Stock title and Mike won in Top Sportsman.
Paige Coughlin is the 17-year-old daughter of two-time NHRA Pro Mod series champ Troy Coughlin. Her brother is Troy Coughlin Jr., the driver of the SealMaster Top Fuel dragster. A former NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League racer, Paige earned her NHRA competition license for the Super Comp class earlier this year.
Paige Coughlin received the Best Engineered Car award at last weekend’s Buckeye Fuel Wars
Last week at her home track, National Trail Raceway, Paige made her official Super Comp debut in the Buckeye Fuel Wars event and reached the third round of eliminations. She was also honored with the Best Engineered Car award for her McIlvain Race Cars-built JEGS.com dragster.
The Coughlin family also has won the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway nine times. Jeg Jr. has racked up four Pro Stock wins and one more in Super Gas. Troy won the Super Gas title in 1991. Mike collected two wins in Pro Stock Truck in 1999 and 2001. Troy Jr. claimed the Super Comp title in 2010 and Super Gas in 2014. In addition, John won the U.S. Nationals as a car owner in 2005 when Brad Plourd drove his JEGS Mail Order dragster to the Super Comp title.
The Coughlin’s have won Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events in nine different classes: Top Fuel, Pro Comp, Super Eliminator, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster and
Top Sportsman.
All told, the Coughlin family has won 54 Lucas Oil Series races in 82 final-round appearances. Collectively, the Coughlin family has appeared in 11 final rounds at the Indianapolis Lucas Oil Series event, and has garnered nine wins.
Jeg Sr., Jeg Jr., and John have each won four North Central Division championships while Mike has two and Troy Jr. has one for a total of 15.
The Coughlin’s have won Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events at 20 different tracks across North America including races in six of NHRA’s seven geographic divisions, excluding Division 6, the
Pacific Northwest.
Family patriarch Jeg Sr. won his first Lucas Oil Series event when he claimed the Super Eliminator title in 1969 at Windsor Dragway in Windsor, Ontario.
Team JEGS – By the Numbers
NHRA North Central Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
Indianapolis Edition
9 Divisional wins in Indianapolis for the Coughlin family in 11 final rounds
11 Overall divisional wins for Mike Coughlin (two in Indianapolis)
15 Total North Central Division championships for the Coughlin family
54 Total NHRA Divisional wins for the Coughlin family