Jegs
Makenna Brown lands first Junior Dragster win of season
Courtesy of Jegs
HEBRON, OH – Rain finally stayed away from National Trail Raceway over the weekend, which was all Makenna Brown needed to drive her JEGS.com Junior Dragster 2 to a win and a runner-up result at the two races contested at
the Columbus-area facility.
Saturday was supposed to be the sixth race of the year, but thanks to persistent rain that seems to have followed the tour around this season, it was only the second to be fully completed. Brown took advantage of the situation and claimed low qualifier honors before powering through the field and beating Nicholas Altenbach in the final to score her first win of 2011.
Seven Junior Dragster 2 cars entered the race, so Brown’s No. 1 qualifying effort was worth a bye-run in the first round. In the semifinals, Brown cut a .082 second light and made a 9.057 second pass at 70.57 mph on an 8.98 second dial-in, which resulted in an easy victory.
Coughlin makes drag racing history in Fontana
Courtesy of Jegs
FONTANA, CA – Five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. made NHRA drag racing history Monday at Auto Club Dragway by becoming the first driver in the 60 years of the sport’s existence to win in six different categories. 
In the sixth and final round of Super Comp, Coughlin beat Tom McBride by 13 feet to take the title of the rain-delayed JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals, running a 9.034-second pass at 160.46 mph ahead of McBride’s 9.052 at 167.07 mph. Coughlin has now claimed trophies in Pro Stock, Competition Eliminator, Top Dragster, Super Gas, Super Stock, and Super Comp.
Four other racers — Scotty Richardson, David Rampy, Greg Stanfield, and Peter Biondo — have won in five different classes, but Coughlin now stands alone with six.
“What a deal!” Coughlin said in the winner’s circle. “To be the first to six is really neat. It’s incredibly hard to win at the national level in any of these Sportsman classes and to have now won in six different classes…I don’t know that it’s sunk in yet. It’s pretty special.
“We did a lot of homework in the off-season to get these cars together. Gary Stinnett built some exceptional engines for us and Kurt Damron from Undercover Chassis built the car. Those two guys are both world champions in Super Comp and the advice they offered along the way was invaluable. Having my buddy Kyle Seipel along this weekend also proved to be very helpful. He’s a legend out here on the west coast and I soaked in everything he told me.”
Coughlin drives small block Pro Mod car to semifinals in Atlanta
Courtesy of Jegs
ATLANTA, GA – Troy Coughlin certainly wasn’t expecting the reception he got from the fans at Atlanta Dragway 
Sunday afternoon as his JEGS.com turbocharged small block Pontiac GTO was being towed back to the pits.
“Coming back down the return road as we headed back to the trailer we actually got a standing ovation,” Coughlin said. “Lots of people were yelling out, ‘Small blocks rule!’ I thought that was kind of wild. This car has so much potential, and obviously some fan appeal as well.”
Coughlin rode crew chief Jake Hairston’s reliable tune-up to his first semifinal finish of the season in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. After beating first-round opponent Donald Martin with a season-best 5.965 at 248.11 mph on Saturday night, Coughlin managed to steal a holeshot victory away from Melanie Troxel in Sunday’s quarterfinals before a leak under his racecar during his semifinal round, prerace burnout cost him a chance to run for a spot in the finals.
World champion Jeg Jr. to star at JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals
Auto Club Dragway are in for a special treat with five-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. set to compete in Super Comp and Super Gas.
One of the top 10 drag racers of all time, Coughlin is on a sabbatical from professional competition and is using his down time to return to his first love of Sportsman racing.
“If we could figure out a path to the winner’s circle it would be very special for me,” Coughlin said. “Not only are we proud sponsors of the event, but I know from many years of racing out here just how hard it is to win one of these things.
“A trophy from the JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals would hold a high place of honor in my house. It’s every bit as hard, if not harder, to win a race in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series as it is on the Full Throttle tour and the feeling of accomplishment is unreal.”
With momentum on their side, JEGS team heads for Norwalk
Courtesy of Jegs
NORWALK, OH – Just two weeks after claiming a victory at the Division 3 season-opener at Lucas Oil Raceway in 
Indianapolis, Mike Coughlin and the rest of the JEGS Mail Order team will look to keep their momentum intact as they head for the series’ second stop this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio.
A two-time Division 3 champion in Top Sportsman, Coughlin drove his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to the class title in Indy, taking a crucial step towards what could potentially be his third division title in the last five years.
Riding on Coughlin’s recent success, Team JEGS’s Norwalk contingent will be rounded out by third-generation racer Troy Coughlin Jr. and Samantha Kenny, who both turned in impressive performances of their own in the Indy opener.
Troy Coughlin hoping to pick up where he left off in Atlanta
Courtesy of Jegs
ATLANTA, GA – Pro Mod driver Troy Coughlin has a simple wish for this weekend’s Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series event at Atlanta Dragway — pick up right where his JEGS.com team left off at the last tour stop in
Houston.
Coughlin had his best run of the weekend in eliminations, coaxing a 6.06-second pass out of his small block, turbo-powered Pontiac GTO is a fractional loss to Danny Rowe. The past world champion Pro Street drag racer says if they can start Atlanta as strong as they finished Houston, they’ll be in great shape.
“The field in Pro Mod this year is exceptionally stout,” Coughlin said. “Every run you make needs to be as close to perfect as possible. Pro Mod gets three qualifying passes, so we have one less than the other pro categories to figure everything out, so we’re already under the gun. That really narrows your window for any corrections that may need to be made.
Sportsman racers ready for the JEGS Pacific SPORTSnationals
Courtesy of Jegs
FONTANA, CA – The best drivers in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will return to Southern California this weekend for the sixth annual JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals at Auto Club Dragway. 
More than 400 of the world’s best sportsman racers will be in action at the event, which is one of three special SPORTSnationals races each season supported by aftermarket high performance giant JEGS Mail Order.
Since its inception in 2006, the JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals has become a popular event for racers as it combines all the competitive elements of a championship caliber NHRA national event with the down-home friendliness and camaraderie that define Sportsman drag racing.
Mike Coughlin opens 2011 with an Indy victory
Courtesy of Jegs
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Mike Coughlin took his first steps towards a third NHRA North Central Division Top Sportsman championship after guiding his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to victory Sunday in the season-opening event at Lucas Oil
Raceway in Indianapolis.
For Coughlin, the win was his fourth at the historic venue including his two Pro Stock Truck victories at the prestigious U.S. Nationals. He also won the Top Sportsman class at the 2008 Indy Lucas Oil Series event. More importantly, the victory was first since recovering from hip and knee surgery that kept him sidelined for most of the 2010 season.
“I didn’t get a chance to race much last year and I really missed it,” said Coughlin. “It is good to be back. I really enjoy racing and I’ve gotten a lot of support from my family and all my fellow racers. I didn’t feel any pain at all today. My knee has never been better and my hip is almost perfect. My wife, Kriss, and our sons, Jack and Clay, were here with me this weekend and it couldn’t have been any better.”
Coughlin’s driving was solid throughout all five rounds but he was especially impressive in the final where he had a nearly-perfect .001 reaction time and ran a 6.76 on his 6.75 dial-in to defeat opponent Billy Thoman, who broke out at the finish. Ironically, Coughlin also had a .001 reaction time when he defeated Scott Perin for his first U.S. Nationals Pro Stock Truck win in 1999.
Coughlin continues to progress in Pro Mod competition
Courtesy of Jegs
HOUSTON, TX – Although he’s running the smallest engine configuration in the Pro Mod class, JEGS.com racer Troy 
Coughlin successfully qualified for this weekend’s 24th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals and had a great chance of advancing out of Saturday evening’s opening round of eliminations. But this time it just wasn’t meant to be.
Coughlin qualified with a 6.097-second run at 245.58 mph Saturday morning, which pitted him against Danny Rowe in the first round of eliminations. When the money was on the line against Rowe, Coughlin pulled off his best pass of the weekend — a 6.060 at 246.39 mph — in arguably the worst conditions of the event, but Rowe was a tick better, sending Coughlin home by a few hundredths of a second.
Team JEGS Ready for NHRA Division 3 Lucas Race
Courtesy of Jegs
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – For more than 30 years, the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Lucas Oil Raceway in 
Indianapolis has signified the beginning of a busy summer of racing in the NHRA’s North Central Division. It also marks the time when Team JEGS racers shift into high gear.
Two-time Division 3 champion Mike Coughlin, his nephew Troy Jr., and future sister-in-law Samantha Kenny, will represent the yellow and black at this weekend’s event with designs on going rounds and contending for trophies
After spending much of the 2010 season recovering from hip and knee surgery, Mike Coughlin is ready to make another run at the Dart Top Sportsman championship. Mike has won two of the last five titles in the class and is eager to find the winner’s circle again with his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt.
“We brought the car out earlier this year for the JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose and it ran pretty well,” Mike said. “Now, were really looking forward to Indy. It has always been one of my favorite races.
