Team JEGS Prerace Notes:
63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals
Team JEGS Prerace Notes:
63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals
(Indianapolis)
August 30-Sept. 4, 2017
The JEGS Mail Order team will be well represented at this week’s 63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals. Six-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will lead the effort behind the wheel of the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Camaro in Pro Stock, his brother Troy will be competing in the J&A Service Pro Mod Series and nephew Troy Jr. is racing in the Super Comp category.
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 the most recent event in Brainerd, Minn., Jeg. Jr. enters this week’s race as the seventh-ranked driver in the Pro Stock class. So far this year, Jeg Jr. has earned runner-up finishes in Houston and Topeka to go with four semifinal results.
Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Last year, Jeg Jr. raced his first full season for the Elite team and recorded the 16th top-10 finish of his career. Jeg Jr. already has qualified for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, which means he will record a 17th top-10 finish this season.
Jeg Jr. is teammates with two-time world champ Erica Enders, 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.
This season, Jeg Jr. has been Pro Stock’s No. 1 qualifier in Houston, Charlotte and Bristol, Tenn. He has been the low qualifier 23 times in his career.
Jeg Jr. has won races at 24 different facilities across the United States, including Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. 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 reached the semifinals in Topeka. He currently has 605 round wins. The other nine drivers with 600 wins are: John Force (1,280), Warren Johnson (874), Tony Schumacher (800), Greg Anderson (745), Kenny Bernstein (682), Larry Dixon (678), Antron Brown (666), Ron Capps (663) and Doug
Kalitta (610).
Jeg Jr. has three career Pro Stock victories at Lucas Oil Raceway, having won there in 2000, 2002 and 2009. Jeg Jr. defeated Ron Krisher in the 2000 final and stopped Jim Yates in 2002 and Greg Stanfield in 2009.
In 17 career appearances at Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 23-13 in Pro Stock competition, making it one of his most successful tracks.
As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr. also claimed the Super Gas title in Indy in 1992, beating Sherman Adcock Jr. in the final round. Jeg Jr. also won the prestigious Mopar Hemi Challenge at Indy in 2004, driving Michael Ogburn’s West Coast Hemi’s Barracuda to a final round win over Rick Houser.
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 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 398 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 398 events and has a round-win record of 605-324. He has red-lighted just 22 times and failed to qualify just 16 times.
Troy Coughlin
The Indy race will mark the ninth event in the 12-race 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.
At the most recent event in Norwalk, Troy was a runner-up to Shane Molinari in a final round battle between two turbocharged entries. Troy has been to the final round of the last three Pro Mod events, recording a win in Bristol and runner-up finishes in Englishtown and Norwalk.
Troy is currently ranked No. 2 in the championship standings behind leader Mike Castellana. As a result of his recent surge, Troy is just 82 points out of first place with four events remaining.
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 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 10 events. In 2015-16, Coughlin was 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 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 14 NHRA national event wins in 34 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.
Troy Coughlin Jr.
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, the 2010 U.S. Nationals and the 2013 Gainesville event. He also won a pair of national events in 2014 at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals and the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals.
Troy Jr. was 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. 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 the Spring Buck Blast at South Georgia
Motorsports Park.
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. Continue reading Team JEGS Prerace Notes: 63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals →
