Team JEGS Pre-race Notes
AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals
Team JEGS Pre-race Notes
AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals
St. Louis
Sept. 29- Oct. 1
The JEGS Mail Order team will be represented at this week’s AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals by brothers Troy, Mike, and Jeg Coughlin Jr. Six-time world champion Jeg Jr. will lead the effort behind the wheel of the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Camaro in Pro Stock. Troy is racing his twin-turbo JEGS.com Chevrolet Corvette C7 in the J&A Services Pro Mod Series, and Mike will drive his JEGS.com dragster in the Top Dragster presented by Racing RVs.com category.
Each of the Team JEGS entries in this week’s event will be adorned in pink as part of breast cancer awareness month.
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.
Jeg Jr. enters the St. Louis event ranked No. 8 in the NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock points standings. This is the third event in the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoff. Jeg Jr. is 191 points out of first place. So far this year, Jeg Jr. has earned runner-up finishes in Houston and Topeka to go with four semifinal results.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. heads to Gateway Motorsports Park in pursuit of season’s first Wally
Jeg Jr. is teammates with two-time world champ Erica Enders, Brian “Lump” Self, and Alex Laughlin. Veteran crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Self are the tuners of the Elite Pro Stock cars and regularly share data.
This season, Jeg Jr. has been Pro Stock’s No. 1 qualifier in Houston, Charlotte and Bristol. He has been the low qualifier 23 times in his career.
Jeg Jr. has won two Pro Stock titles at Gateway Motorsports Park. He defeated Greg Anderson in 2002 and stopped Jason Line in 2009. Jeg Jr. also was runner-up in Pro Stock here in 1998, 2007 and 2010.
In 16 career appearances at Gateway Motorsports Park, Jeg Jr. has a round-win record of 27-14 in Pro Stock competition.
As a sportsman racer, Jeg Jr. has won three titles at the St. Louis track. He won the Super Stock title in 1997 and 2003 and the Top Dragster title in 2010.
Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field in 13 of his 15 appearances at Gateway Motorsports Park including a best of second in 2014. His average qualifying position at this track is No. 6.
Jeg Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities including Gateway Motorsports Park. The only stops on the on the current NHRA Mello Yello tour where he has not won are Norwalk, Ohio, and Epping, N.H.
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. Earlier this season in Houston, he ran a best of 6.499 seconds, his best run in the fuel injection era.
Earlier this season, Jeg Jr. became just the 10th NHRA racer to win 600 elimination rounds when he reached the semifinals in Topeka. He currently has 606 round wins. The other nine drivers with 600 wins are: John Force (1,281), Warren Johnson (874), Tony Schumacher (804), Greg Anderson (754), Kenny Bernstein (682), Larry Dixon (678), Ron Capps (671), Antron Brown (670) and Doug
Kalitta (616).
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. claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.
Jeg Jr. is the only driver in history 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 in the class. Only Warren Johnson (97), Greg Anderson (88) and Bob Glidden (85) and have more titles.
In 401 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 102 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 list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 126 final rounds, 102 as a professional and 24 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 401 events and has a round-win record of 606-327. He has red-lighted just 22 times and failed to qualify just 16 times.
The St. Louis race will mark the 11th event in the 12-race 2017 J&A Services Pro Mod Series. Two-time series champion Troy will continue his quest for a third title behind the wheel of his
JEGS.com Corvette.
Troy Coughlin heads to St. Louis ranked
No. 2 in the Pro Mod points standings
At the most recent event in Charlotte, Troy lost in the first round, ending his string of four-
straight finals.
Troy is currently ranked No. 2 in the championship standings behind leader Mike Castellana. As a result of a recent surge, Troy is just 48-points out of first place with two
events remaining.
Troy is the defending Pro Mod winner of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. Last year, he defeated Rickie Smith in the final round. Troy also won the St. Louis race in 2012, a victory that was crucial to his late-season run to the NHRA Pro Mod series championship.
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.
Last year, Troy battled for the title until the final event of the season where he finished a close second to eventual champ Rickie Smith. He won races in Englishtown, St. Louis and 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 10 events. In 2015-16, Coughlin is the only driver to qualify for all 20 races.
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 a 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 14 NHRA national event wins in Pro Mod, Pro Stock and Super Gas.
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.
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 Coughlin is looking for his second national event win of the season in St. Louis
Mike enters the St. Louis event as the No. 5 ranked driver in the Top Dragster class. He is just 63-points out of first place and can earn points in St. Louis by winning three elimination rounds.
In addition to his national event win in Pomona, Mike also earned a Lucas Oil Series victory in Indianapolis.
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 and Tony Collier.
Last year, Mike returned to the Top Dragster class after a successful run in Top Sportsman that included a pair of Divisional championships in 2007 and 2009.
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.
The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. has combined for 115 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.