NHRA Pro Stock - Kansas Coughlin Preview

Topeka, May 16, 2012: In 2012, Jeg Coughlin Jr. is making his return to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series after a one-year hiatus. Jeg is driving the all-new JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger in the Pro Stock class. In his first outing since his return, he drove to a runner-up finish at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Winternationals.

After the first seven rounds in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Jeg Coughlin Jr. is ranked 12th in the NHRA Full Throttle points standings.

At the most recent NHRA event in Atlanta, Jeg competed in his 700th elimination round as a professional racer. Overall, he has a round-win record of 477-223.

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 also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.

Jeg won the Pro Stock title at the 2000 Topeka event, driving his Team JEGS entry to a final round win over Darrell Alderman. Jeg also has a runner-up finish at this event in Pro Stock 1998, in his first appearance at Heartland Park Topeka as a professional. Jeg lost to Warren Johnson in that final.

As a sportsman racer, Jeg won the Super Stock title in Topeka in 1994 and earned a runner-up finish in Competition Eliminator in 1997. That season, he set an NHRA record by winning national events in four separate classes; Pro Stock, Comp, Super Stock, and Super Gas.

In 12 career appearances at Heartland Park Topeka, Jeg has a round win record of 18-10 in Pro Stock competition.

Jeg has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field in 9 of his 12 appearances at Heartland Park Topeka including a best of No. 1 in 2000. Jeg has been the No. 1 qualifier 17 times in his career.

Jeg will once again be pulling double-duty at the Topeka event as he will also be behind the wheel of his HEMI-powered JEGS.com Drag Pak Challenger in Stock Eliminator. Earlier this season, longtime family friend Jeff Taylor drove the same car to a win at the Gainesville Raceway Lucas Oil Series event.

During his hiatus from Pro Stock racing in 2011, Jeg 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.

At the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event earlier this year in Las Vegas, Jeg scored his 68th career national event title when he drove his JEGS.com dragster to the Super Comp title.

In 290 career Pro Stock races, Jeg has reached the final round 85 times, recording 52 wins. Including his 16 sportsman victories, Jeg has won a total of 68 times, good for tenth place on NHRA’s all time wins list. During his career, Jeg has appeared in 106 final rounds, 85 as a professional and 21 as a sportsman racer.

In 2010, his most recent season in Pro Stock competition, Jeg Coughlin won four Pro Stock races in seven final round appearances. He also claimed a win in the Top Dragster class at the St. Louis event.

Jeg’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.

With 52-career Pro Stock wins, Jeg ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (96), Bob Glidden (85) and Greg Anderson (73) have more titles.

Coughlin’s JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger is powered by Mopar Hemi engines supplied by JNR Racing, the JEGS in-house engine program founded by JEGS, Nick Ferri, and Roy Simmons. Former FIA European Drag Racing champion Tomi Laine is Jeg’s crew chief in 2012.

Jeg is the only driver in the 61-year history of NHRA 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.