Nifty '50' is in Pro Stock champ Coughlin's future (NHRA/JEGS) 3.5MB
Nifty '50' is in Pro Stock champ Coughlin's future DELAWARE, Ohio (Dec. 15) -- Five-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. will sport a special competition number on his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt in 2010. In honor of the 50th anniversary of JEGS Automotive, the company his famous father Jeg Coughlin Sr. began in 1960 that is now run by Jeg Jr. and his three brothers, Coughlin will use No. 50 as his official car number for the entire season. Unique to drag racing, each racer has a competition number assigned to them at the conclusion of their official licensing process. At each event this specific number is used to identify the racer. The exception is the 10 racers that finish in the top 10 the previous year, who assume the number corresponding with their 1-10 finishing spot. However, the NHRA allows racers to fallback to their original competition number if they so desire. Since the number Coughlin used after winning back-to-back world championships in 2007 and 2008 -- "1" -- will ride with Mike Edwards in 2010, Coughlin decided to go with "50" to honor the celebration of the half-century mark for JEGS Mail Order. "The No. 50 has taken on great significance here at JEGS headquarters as we prepare for our golden anniversary," Coughlin said. "We thought it would be neat to have it as our competition number and we were able to get it done." Pro Stock driver Bruce Allen of the famed Reher-Morrison Racing organization was the last driver to compete with the No. 50, which he used when his team was sponsored by Slick 50 Car Care Products. Allen retired from quarter-mile action a few years ago and graciously gave Coughlin permission to use the digit during his 2010 campaign. "It's an honor to use Bruce's number and I can't thank him enough for allowing us to run it," Coughlin said. "Bruce is always someone I have admired a great deal and I remember those red and white Reher-Morrison cars very well because when I was a kid it seemed like they won everything. We will do our best to represent it well and carry on the winning tradition. "We're actually hoping to score our 50th win in Pro Stock next season. We're at 48 right now so it's certainly in our sights. If we do our job it should come at some point. It would be neat to do it during our 50th year celebration in the No. 50 JEGS.com car." --30-- Information regarding JEGS Mail Order can be found at _www.jegs.com_ (http://www.jegs.com/) and for media/fan resources checkout _www.teamjegs.com_ (http://www.teamjegs.com/) . Media Contact: Scott "Woody" Woodruff JEGS, Director of Media & Motorsports Office: 800.345.4545 (#3, ext 412) Mobile: 614.595.1820 Fax: 740.362.5507 Email: _jegspr@aol.com_ (mailto:jegspr@aol.com) -or- _scott.woodruff@jegs.com_ (mailto:scott.woodruff@jegs.com)