Team JEGS Fast Facts for Pomona
Team JEGS
Pre-race notes
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals
Auto Club Raceway Pomona
Pomona, Calif. (Feb. 6-9)
The JEGS Mail Order team will be represented at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona by Jeg Coughlin Jr., who will be competing in Pro Stock, and Jeff Taylor, who will be driving the JEGS Mail Order Dodge Challenger Drag Pak in Stock Eliminator.
In Pomona, Coughlin will begin his pursuit of a sixth NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock title (and seventh overall). Coughlin will once again be racing as a member of the Elite Motorsports team. His Chevy Camaro will carry the familiar yellow and black colors of JEGS Mail Order along with the special edition JEGS 60th anniversary logo.
Coughlin enters the 2020 season with 82 national event victories including 63 in Pro Stock. His most recent Pro Stock win came last November when he won the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals, also held in Pomona. In that event, Coughlin defeated Fernando Cuadra in the final round.
Last year, Coughlin finished as the No. 2 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class behind teammate Erica Enders. It was the second-straight year he’s been the championship runner-up. Coughlin has now finished in the top 10 on 19 occasions in his professional career, which began in 1997.
Coughlin will continue racing as a teammate to Enders. The Elite Motorsports team also includes Alex Laughlin, Aaron Stanfield and Marty Robertson, who is making his Pro Stock debut. Coughlin’s crew chief is Rickie Jones, who has extensive experience as a driver, chassis builder and tuner. The Elite team also features crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Brian “Lump” Self, who regularly share data.
Coughlin has won at least one national event at 24 different facilities, including Auto Club Raceway Pomona. The only current stops on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour where he has not won are the races in Norwalk, Ohio and Epping, N.H.
All told, Coughlin has seven wins in 14 Pro Stock final-round appearances in Pomona. He won the season-opening Winternationals in 1999 and 2000, and the season-ending Auto Club Finals in 1995, 2005, 2007 and 2019. He also won the special 50th anniversary event held during the summer of 2001 as part of NHRA’s golden anniversary celebration.
In 1998, Coughlin made his first Pro Stock start at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona at the Winternationals and reached the final round. A year later, Coughlin defeated his older brother Troy in the final to win his first Winternationals Pro Stock title. The Coughlin brothers also raced one another in the final of the 1999 Denver event, where Jeg Jr. once again claimed the win.
In addition to his Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. was a runner-up in the Super Stock class in Pomona during the 1995 Winternationals.
In 19 appearances at the Winternationals, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the field 13 times including a best of No. 2 (2000, 2008 and 2010). Overall, he has a 27-16 record in Pro Stock competition.
Of his 27 round wins at the Winternationals, seven have come via a starting line holeshot. With 105 holeshot wins in his career, Jeg. Jr is the all-time leader among NHRA professional competitors.
In 40 career appearances at Auto Club Pomona Raceway in all events, Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 67-33 in Pro Stock competition.
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 — 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 qualified No. 16.
With 63 Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Greg Anderson (94) and the late Bob Glidden (85) have more titles.
In 447 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 111 times, recording 63 wins. Including his 19 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 82 times. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 136 final rounds, 111 as a professional and 25 as a sportsman racer.
During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has a round-win record of 671-368. He has failed to qualify just 16 times.
Jeg Jr. has been the low qualifier 32 times in Pro Stock including three times last season in Seattle, Dallas and Pomona.