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NHRA Team News - JEGS Race Preview Pomona


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Pomona, Nov. 6, 2012: In 2012, Jeg Coughlin Jr. is making his return to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series after a one-year hiatus. Jeg Jr is driving the all-new JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger in the Pro Stock class. In his first outing of the season he drove to a runner-up finish at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona.

Following his quarterfinal finish at the most recent event in Las Vegas Jeg Jr. is the eighth-ranked driver in the NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock standings with one race remaining in the 2012 season.

As a qualifier for the Countdown to the Championship, Jeg Jr is guaranteed to finish in the top ten in the NHRA Pro Stock class for the 13th time in his career.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. is a four-time NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion. He earned season titles in 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2008. As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.

During his hiatus from Pro Stock racing in 2011, Jeg Jr returned to his roots and spent much of the year racing in various sportsman classes. He enjoyed tremendous success, winning the Super Comp title at the JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals in Fontana, Calif., and numerous major E.T. bracket racing titles.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won the season-ending Auto Club Finals event three times. In 1999, he defeated Warren Johnson and in 2005 he drove to a final round win over Tom Martino. In 2007, Jeg defeated Justin Humphreys in the final round. He was also a runner-up at the fall Pomona event in 1998, 2000, and 2010. The last time Jeg Jr raced a Dodge Pro Stock car in Pomona, he claimed a victory at the 2005 Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

During his career, Jeg Jr has raced in 12 final rounds in Pomona, claiming six victories

In 28 career appearances at Auto Club Pomona Raceway, which is also the site of the season-ending Auto Club Finals, Jeg has a round win record of 51-21 in Pro Stock competition.

Jeg Jr also won the special 50th anniversary event held in Pomona during the summer of 2001, as part of NHRA’s golden anniversary celebration.

Jeg will be pulling double duty in Pomona as he will also be behind the wheel of the team’s JEGS.com Super Comp dragster. At the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event last April in Las Vegas, Jeg Jr scored his 68th and most recent national event title in the Super Comp class.

As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr was also runner-up at the 1995 Winternationals in the Super Stock class, losing a close final against former world champion John Calvert.

In 2010, his most recent season in Pro Stock competition, Jeg Coughlin Jr. won four Pro Stock races in seven final round appearances.

Jeg Jr’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.520-seconds and his best speed is 212.29-mph both recorded at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C. in 2010.

Jeg Jr is one of only two drivers, along with Peter Biondo, to win national event titles in six different categories. He has won in Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Top Dragster.

Coughlin’s JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger is powered by Mopar Hemi engines supplied by JNR Racing, the JEGS in-house engine program founded by Jeg Coughlin, Nick Ferri, and Roy Simmons. The car is tuned by crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia.

In 305 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr has reached the final round 85 times, recording 52 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr has won a total of 68 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all-time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr has appeared in 107 final rounds, 85 as a professional and 22 as a sportsman racer.

With 52-career Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (96), Bob Glidden (85) and Greg Anderson (74) have more titles

The JEGS Mail Order team will also be represented in Las Vegas by third-generation racer Troy Coughlin Jr., who will be driving in Super Gas with his JEGS.com Corvette roadster.

Troy Jr. claimed his first NHRA National event title at the Las Vegas event in 2009, when he won the Super Comp title. He has since gone on to win the 2010 U.S. Nationals at Indy.

The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr, and Troy Jr. has combined for 93 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin’s have won in 9 different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster.