Team JEGS Pre-race Notes NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals

There will be a total of five JEGS Mail Order entries in competition this weekend at the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals. Mike Coughlin will in Top Sportsman while his brother Jeg and nephew Troy Jr. will be racing in Super Comp. In addition, Jeg’s fiancée, Samantha Kenny will also race in Super Comp and Mike’s son, Jack, will be in action with his JEGS.com Jr. Dragster.

Jeg and Mike are both prior winners of the JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals. Jeg won the Top Dragster title at the 2006 event while Mike won the Super Comp title in 2005 and also claimed a runner-up finish in Top Sportsman in 2009.

In just thee years of NHRA racing, T.J. Coughlin has already won a pair of national event titles at the 2009 Las Vegas event and the 2010 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Team JEGS driver Samantha Kenny is also a former national event champion, winning the Super Comp title at the Norwalk race in 2009.

The only driver to double at the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals is Tommy Phillips who drove to both the Super Comp and Super Gas titles at the 2009 event.

By far, the most successful racer in the seven-year history of the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals is Keith Raftery who has three wins (2005, 2008, and 2010) and a runner-up finish (2007) to his credit.

Other drivers with multiple wins in Belle Rose include Jeff Strickland, who won the Stock title in 2005 and the Super Stock title in 2008, Sid Norwood, who claimed back-to-back Super Street wins in 2005 and 2006, Kevin Helms, who won Super Stock in 2006 and Stock in 2008, Craig Bourgeois, a back-to-back Comp champ in 2006-2007, Glen Self, also a back to back Comp champ in 2008-2009, and Brad Zaskowski, who won Super Stock in 2007 and 2009.

In addition to Jeg Coughlin Jr., the list of former NHRA national champions who are also former winners of the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals includes David Tatum III, Steve Cohen, Scotty Richardson, Jeff Hefler, Hugh Meeks III, Kevin Helms, and Larry Stewart.

The battle for the coveted JEGS Crown trophy will begin at this weekend’s event. The JEGS Crown is a handcrafted trophy that can only be won by winning two of the three JEGS SPORTSnationals events in a calendar year. The winners of the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La., and the JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals in Fontana, Calif., are in the running for the trophy this year.

Since its inception, the JEGS Crown has been awarded just once, to Pro Mod competitor Mike Ashley, who won the Pro Mod class in Belle Rose and Columbus in 2005.

Comp racers in Belle Rose will be racing for a share of a $25,000 bonus posted by Pro Stock racers Rodger Brogdon and Steve Kent. The winner will pocket an additional $10,000 while the runner-up will earn $5,000. The semifinals will pay $1,000; $500 to the quarterfinals; $350 to the round two finishers and $200 to all qualifiers who do not win a round of competition.

The 2011 Mopar Hemi Challenge will begin at this weekend’s event. Super Stock heavyweights Charlie Westcott and Jim Daniels are expected to renew their battle for supremacy in the popular SS/AH class with their Hemi-powered Mopar factory race cars.