Jegs
Rare chance for 3 wins in one weekend excites reigning champ Mike Coughlin
ST. LOUIS – This drag racing season has been very different with schedule constrictions necessitating more double-up weekends than ever 
before. But for reigning Division 3 Top Dragster champion Mike Coughlin and a few others, this weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway will present three chances to visit the victory circle.
Due to a late-round rainout on August 30 at the last D3 race in Bowling Green, Ky., Coughlin and his fellow remaining survivors from Beech Bend will start this extended weekend by finishing the last few rounds of the previous race. Together with the regularly scheduled double-header, Coughlin knows this year’s Division 3 championships will likely be decided under the famous St. Louis Arch.
“It’s going to be a really exciting four days,” Coughlin said. “I’ve always enjoyed double-header weekends because they’re like bracket races where you’re just constantly on the go. This weekend will be even more crazy with three races. I’ve never had three NHRA races in a weekend before. I actually doubt it’s happened very often. I just know we won’t have a chance to catch our breath until Monday. It’ll be awesome.”
Reigning D3 Top Dragster champ Mike Coughlin leads Team JEGS into Beech Bend
BOWLING GREEN, KY – The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series returns to Beech Bend Raceway Park this weekend for a North Central Regional 
event at one of Division 3’s most historic and beloved facilities. Reigning D3 Top Dragster champ Mike Coughlin will lead a three-car assault from Team JEGS that features his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. and niece Paige Coughlin, who will both compete in Super Comp.
“Beech Bend Raceway Park has always been a favorite stop of mine dating all the way back to the 1970s when my brothers and I would go watch our dad (Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin Sr.) race there,” Mike said. “With the amusement park right across the way from the drag strip, the place was a wonderland for kids like us, and I’ve noticed through the years there are many other drag racing families that feel the same way.”
Mike raced to his third Division 3 title last year, adding a Top Dragster championship to two previous D3 titles in Top Sportsman. Although it’s been awhile since he’s found the winner’s circle at Beech Bend — he last won in 1989 in Super Comp — he still has a lot of enthusiasm for this weekend’s event, which runs Friday-Sunday.
Pro Stock points leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. has work ahead of him at U.S. Nationals
INDIANAPOLIS – After winning two of the first four national events of the year and building more than a two-round lead in the Pro Stock 
championship points, Jeg Coughlin Jr. came back down to earth a little on Saturday by qualifying 10th at the 66th annual Denso Spark Plugs U.S. Nationals.
It’s certainly not the end of the world qualifying in the bottom half of the elimination field, as Coughlin himself proved at this event 20 years ago when he raced from the 16th and final spot to his first win at the “Big Go,” but it’s reason enough for his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports crew to plan a late night of work at Lucas Oil Raceway.
“The team tested in Tulsa (Okla.) prior to coming here
and we felt like we had genuinely made some big improvements in our overall performance, which, as we’ve seen, has already been really good,” said Coughlin, a five-time Pro Stock champion with 65 class wins. “We talked about the risk/reward of continuing what we started in testing when we got here and decided to go for it.
JEGS Allstars participant Paige Coughlin leads Team JEGS sportsman contingent into Indy
INDIANAPOLIS – Upstart Super Comp racer Paige Coughlin successfully earned her first start in the prestigious JEGS Allstars event, which 
will take place Friday as part of the 66th annual Denso Spark Plugs U.S. Nationals. A junior at Miami University of Ohio, Paige joins her four uncles — John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr. — and her brother Troy Jr., as a bona fide JEGS Allstar.
“Being a part of the JEGS Allstars team this year is such an honor,” said Paige, the only Coughlin to make the Allstars squad this season. “It’s very special to have this chance to compete against the best sportsman racers in the country and I am extra excited to be representing Division 3.”
Paige is one 80 racers vying for individual and team honors at the event. Racers must qualify for the JEGS Allstars by earning points in their home divisions during year-long battles in each of the NHRA’s 10 sportsman categories.
“It would be a dream to win Super Comp at my first JEGS Allstars race but it would be even more special if Division 3 can pull off the team championship,” Paige said. “I am super thankful for my family, my crew chief Justin Beaver, crewman Tony Collier, and everyone else at JEGS.com for helping me become this year’s Allstars rep.
Pro Stock point leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. looking for one more Indy memory
Nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. anxious to go one step further
INDIANAPOLIS – The victories continue to add up for Pro Stock points leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. and heading into this weekend’s 66th annual 
Denso Spark Plugs U.S. Nationals, the NHRA tour’s most recent winner simply hopes to return to the winner’s circle yet again.
Coughlin has two wins and one runner-up showing in the four races contested this season, including the Dodge NHRA Nationals three weeks ago at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, where he beat nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. in the money round.
Jeg Jr. also is six-time winner of the U.S. Nationals, considered drag racing’s most prestigious event. He won the Pro Stock class in 2000, 2002 and 2009. He also claimed the 1992 Super Gas title and the 2004 Mopar Hemi Challenge.
“We’ve certainly had a wonderful run of late, including here in Indy,” said Jeg Jr., who plans to retire from full-time competition at the conclusion of this year. “It would be wonderful to close things out with another U.S. Nationals victory. I know everyone working on the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro has that some opinion.
Fields are set for first JEGS SPORTSnationals contested at New England Dragway
EPPING, NH – After a fast-and-furious day of qualifying, the elimination fields for the JEGS SPORTSnationals have been set at historic New 
England Dragway. The event marks the first time a JEGS SPORTSnationals race has been contested in the NHRA’s Northeast Division, and nearly 400 sportsman racers have packed the facility in a strong show of support.
Heading into Sunday’s final eliminations, Frank Aragona Jr. (Comp), Scott Gove (Super Stock), Eric Merryfield (Stock), Michael Lubniesski (Top Sportsman) and Mike Coughlin (Top Dragster) lead their respective fields. Racers, including those in Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street, also made time trial runs Saturday before completing the first round of eliminations.
Aragona is the three-time and reigning NHRA Comp world champion. He drove his J/AA roadster to a 7.388-second run to claim the top spot over Ronald Proctor and Richard Schonberger. Aragona was a semifinal finisher in the Northeast Division Lucas Oil Series event held Friday at New England Dragway.
Choice of throwback car design for U.S. Nationals an easy one for Jeg Coughlin Jr.
DELAWARE, OH – When the drivers in the NHRA Pro Stock class got together and decided to run throwback car designs at this year’s 66th 
annual Denso Spark Plugs U.S. Nationals, five-time class champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. was quick to select his favorite ride.
“It was pretty easy for us to pick the 2000 design we used to win our first Pro Stock championship, which also happened to be the car I drove to my first Indy win in Pro Stock that same year,” Coughlin said. “Fortunately, when we started to overlay that design on my current JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, it really seemed to fit really well. It was meant to be!”
Already a world champion after winning the 1992 Super Gas title, Coughlin was just a few years into his pro career when he entered the 2000 U.S. Nationals with a very competitive JEGS.com-branded Oldsmobile Cutlass. He was the runaway points leader, having won seven of the first 15 races of the year, and the chase pack seemed to be getting smaller and smaller in his rear-view mirror.
JEGS SPORTSnationals set for first stop at historic New England Dragway
EPPING, NH – Just weeks after the successful conclusion of JEGS Speedweek at National Trail Raceway, the popular JEGS SPORTSnationals 
will make its first stop in the Northeast this Thursday-Sunday at historic New England Dragway.
The event, which will be run in conjunction with an NHRA Division 1 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, will crown champions in eight different classes: Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Dragster, and Top Sportsman. Established in 1974 at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky., the SPORTSnationals has become a popular showcase for NHRA’s best sportsman drag racers. Over the last 46 years, the event has made stops in Denver, Indianapolis, Houston, Las Vegas, Fontana, Calif., Hebron, Ohio, and Belle Rose, La.
At the recent JEGS Speedweek race at National Trail Raceway, sportsman star Anthony Bertozzi made history by winning a record fifth JEGS SPORTSnationals title. Bertozzi won the Top Dragster title by beating the JEGS.com dragster of Mike Coughlin in the final.
Jeg Coughlin Jr. pads Pro Stock points lead by beating nephew Troy Jr. at third Indy race
INDIANAPOLIS – Five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. earned a little breathing room in the Mello Yello championship points 
standings Sunday with a solid victory at the Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Coughlin, a veteran of 451 Pro Stock races, beat nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. in the final in what was just Troy Jr.’s second start in the category.
Entering the race just eight points ahead of Jason Line, Jeg Jr. now has a 44-point edge against his chief challenger. Jeg Jr. also stretched his advantage over teammate and reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders from 15 to 77 points.
“Had a helluva day with a really special ending; I couldn’t be happier,” Jeg Jr. said. “We were third-best through qualifying with Rickie (Jones, crew chief) trying a few little things Saturday, but went back to our tried-and-true set-up today and got the job done, despite not having the best car on the property today. We just worked at it and kept our heads down and here we are now with another trophy.
Pro Stock leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. plans to remain on the offensive at Indy 3
Total of five Team JEGS cars are entered at Lucas Oil Raceway
INDIANAPOLIS – Pro Stock points leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. is used to keeping his foot on the gas, something the six-time world champion 
promises to continue when drag racing returns to Lucas Oil Raceway for this weekend’s Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals, the third straight national event at the historic quarter-mile strip.
“I think we’re all coming to the realization of how quickly things can change during this pandemic,” Coughlin Jr. said. “We’ve seen races being rescheduled, postponed or even cancelled outright this year so we’re just going to treat every single one we go to like it’s the final race of the Countdown to the Championship and the title is on the line.
“Really, dating back to last year’s championship chase, Rickie (Jones, crew chief) has been very aggressive with the tune-up and the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro has really responded well. We finished strong last year and we’re off to an incredible start this year so there’s no reason to change our tactics.”
Coughlin powered from eighth to second place in the six races of last year’s championship charge, racing to a win and two runner-up results in the final three events. This year, he’s got a win and a runner-up in the three national events contested so far.
