Jegs
Despite rain, Coughlin makes field for Season-opening Winternationals
Courtesy of Jegs
POMONA, CA – Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s return to Pro Stock racing at the NHRA Winternationals hasn’t been flashy so far, but the JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger is in Sunday’s elimination field in the No. 14 spot with good data to work from.
“We’ve made progress,” Coughlin said. “Are we where we wanted to be going into game day at the first Pomona? No. I don’t think we are. But I’m also not disappointed about it. We found the things that have hampered our performance along the way.”
Qualifying for the race was cut to just three sessions after torrential rains hit Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on Saturday afternoon. Coughlin and the car struggled in the first two rounds before running a 6.637-second pass at 209.20 mph in the third and final session.
“We were looking to cut halfway into the number of where we were and the No. 1 qualifier’s time,” Coughlin said. “Our goal in Q3 was to just get it to the other end. We had a more aggressive setup in the car for Round 4, but we didn’t get to run it.
Six-time Pomona Champion Coughlin ready for New Chapter
Courtesy of Jegs
POMONA, CA – Jeg Coughlin Jr. admits to feeling butterflies in his stomach every time he drives through the gates of Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, and this weekend will certainly be no different as the five-time world champion unveils 
his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger for the first time in competition.
“It’s time to run in a crowd and see how we stack up,” said Coughlin, who didn’t race at the professional level in 2011. “This is a new era for us with our association with Mopar and the Chrysler Technology Center. We’re still maturing but I believe we’ll challenge for wins right away.
“Pomona is the perfect starting point. It’s so rich with history and it’s a track where Team JEGS has enjoyed a lot of success over the years. If you can’t get pumped up for Pomona, you may be in the wrong profession.”
Coughlin has fashioned a remarkable race-day record of 48-20 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, a mark that includes six national event victories in 12 final-round showings. He’s also 18-9 at the season-opening Winternationals.
JEGS.com racer Makenna Brown cleans up at National Trail Raceway ceremony
Courtesy of Jegs
HEBRON, OH – JEGS.com racer Makenna Brown arrived at Saturday evening’s National Trail Raceway Awards 
Ceremony knowing she would collect one trophy and hoping she’d earn another. Little did she know, the 11-year-old granddaughter of Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin and his wife Sue would leave the banquet hall with three pieces of hardware.
Brown first picked up her hard-earned Jr. Dragster 2 track championship, which she claimed by the slenderest of margins over Nicholas Altenbach. She was then recognized as Most Improved Jr. Dragster Driver, a special honor voted on by her fellow racers.
But that wasn’t all. Brown also was presented with a custom-made trophy from her grandparents that noted her being the first Jr. Dragster Champion and the first Female Champion for Team JEGS.
“Winning the track championship was very special to me in many ways because I know how much goes into it,” Brown said. “Just to be nominated for Most Improved Jr. Dragster Driver next to Dustin Eveland and Michael Ruark was another big honor so to actually win that one as well was another dream come true.
Accolades continue for JEGS.com racer Makenna Brown
Courtesy of Jegs
HEBRON, Ohio (Jan. 26) – Team JEGS driver Makenna Brown already knows she will leave this Saturday’s National Trail
Raceway Awards Banquet with one trophy, but it was recently revealed that the Junior Dragster phenom has been nominated for a second.
Brown won the National Trail Jr. Dragster 2 class track championship by one point in 2011, which is the primary reason she will attend the banquet. As a bonus, Brown is one of three nominees for “Most Improved Jr. Dragster Driver” award, which is determined by a vote of the racers themselves.
If Brown wins the special award it would be the second straight year she has won a special end-of-year track award. Brown was selected as the 2010 Jr. Dragster Rookie of the Year at National Trail.
T.J. Coughlin’s New Ride
Courtesy of Jegs
DELAWARE, OH – T.J. Coughlin will have a new JEGS.com dragster at his disposal for the 2012 racing season. American Race Cars is finishing a 240-inch wheelbase rail that will first be tested in February at Palm Beach
International Raceway in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The new dragster will feature a wider roll cage and other state-of-the-art chassis components that will make the car one of the sleekest and smoothest in racing.
The car will carry the same 638-cubic-inch Chevrolet engine Coughlin used last year, with some modifications. The Sonny Leonard-built powerplant will run on alcohol and will be powered by a Holley NOS nitrous kit.
Coughlin’s dragster, which he plans to enter in several high-dollar bracket races, will of course carry the famous JEGS yellow paint scheme done by Todd’s Extreme Paint.
Coughlin’s team will take delivery of the new car later this month, where the JEGS crew will put the finishing touches on it, including wiring, installing the transmission, engine and all the accessories to make it meet technical requirements.
With Steve Petty’s help, Coughlin Looking for Career-best Season
Courtesy of Jegs
DELAWARE, OH – The NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series season may not start until March, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t buzzing around Troy Coughlin’s JEGS.com turbo Chevy Camaro.
“It takes a lot of hard work to get ready for the season but you find motivation in the fact every other racer on tour is likely working just as hard as we are,” Coughlin said. “We’ve got some new faces in new places, but the transition is going smoothly and we’re all very excited about the upcoming season.”
The most notably change in the yellow and black’s new attack is crew chief Steve Petty, whom Coughlin says knows a thing or two about making a turbo motor sing.
“There’s very few people better with a turbo engine than Steve,” said Coughlin, a past world champion in Pro Street. “There’s a reason he won four of the last five races. He’s good. But even Steve needs some time to become acquainted with this particular racecar. Every car and engine is a little different. So Steve needs some time to get to know the equipment we’ve got and then let his talent take over.
JEGS.com / Mopar Dodge Avenger blows ’em away in wind tunnel testing
Courtesy of Jegs
DELAWARE, OH – Preparations on the JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger are in high gear with the 2012 season and Jeg 
Coughlin Jr.’s ballyhooed return to the Pro Stock class just 30 days away.
As the team at JNR Racing Engines remains hard at work getting the JEGS.com/Mopar car’s powerplants to a championship caliber level, crew chief Tomi Lane and crewman Dave Yediny took the Avenger chassis to the Chrysler Technical Center in Michigan for some extended time in the wind tunnel.
“They ended up spending more than 12 hours in the wind tunnel, which is an incredible amount of time for us to gain data,” Coughlin said. “The guys made several “runs” and were extremely pleased with the results.
Team JEGS racer Brown to be Crowned as track champion
Courtesy of Jegs
HEBRON, OH – Team JEGS driver Makenna Brown will be among the track champions recognized as National Trail Raceway holds its annual awards banquet on Jan. 28.
Brown won the 2011 JEGS Junior Dragster 2 class title at National Trail by a single point over Nicholas Altenbach, the previous year’s track champ. In all, Brown won a tight, four-car championship battle with late-season consistency. She ended the year with three wins and a runner-up finish in 13 starts.
The highly attended banquet will be held at Creative Catering in Hebron.
Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s return picked as Mopar’s No. 1 moment of 2011
Courtesy of Jegs
DELAWARE, OH – The New Year is a time to both look back on the past and look ahead to the possibilities the next 12 months can hold, and it appears Mopar had those thoughts in mind when it compiled a list of 2011 highlights.
For its No. 1 moment of the year, Mopar selected its November announcement detailing a new NHRA Pro Stock alliance with five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr and JEGS.
“In all honesty, I was shocked and honored when I heard the news. Mopar-backed cars won a lot of races and championships in many racing series during 2011, so I’m humbled that they think so highly of what we’re doing with the JEGS.com Dodge Avenger,” said Coughlin.
The announcement marks a return to the Pro Stock class by Coughlin after a one-year hiatus. It’s also a return to the Mopar fold for Coughlin, who has a long history with the brand. Coughlin captured the 2004 U.S. Nationals Mopar HEMI Challenge event win driving a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, raced a Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Pro Stock car during the 2005 NHRA season and currently owns and competes in Sportsman events in a Mopar Challenger Drag Pak.
Troy Coughlin eyes big payday in Las Vegas
Courtesy of Jegs
LAS VEGAS, NV – World champion drag racer Troy Coughlin will be part of the star-studded line-up racing for a $20,000 payout at this weekend’s seventh annual Street Car Supernationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Billed as the biggest East vs. West Showdown of it’s type, Coughlin, the 2009 NMCA Pro Street champion, will match his twin-turbo charged JEGS.com hot rod up against some of the top names in the sport running supercharged, nitrous and turbo configurations.
“I’ve raced in a lot of big-time events over the years and you’d be hard pressed to find one with the talent level of the Street Car Supernationals,” Coughlin said. “All the hitters will be there, and my adrenaline already is pumping because I know we’re going to need to be on our game to have success. We are definitely up for the challenge.”
