INDIANAPOLIS – Jeg Coughlin Jr. came within .016-seconds of collecting his second NHRA win of the season Sunday at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals, and his strong runner-up effort in his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro was enough to put him back into the points lead he held after winning the season-opener in Pomona, Calif., back in February.

Coughlin beat Elite Motorsports teammates Erica Enders and Bruno Massel, along with rival Chris McGaha, on the day before succumbing to Jason Line in an entertaining finale of the first NHRA professional event in four and a half months.

“We had a great day, a great weekend really,” Coughlin said. “Rather than qualify on Friday the NHRA allowed us a chance to test and our car was really strong right from the start. We did get two qualifying sessions Saturday and earned second place, so we were pleased with that. We felt really good here on race day and made a great run.

“It was special to be back racing again and to see some fans in person and put on a show for them. I know we’ve all missed drag racing and it’s a relief to be back at it. I think the NHRA did a great job keeping everyone healthy and safe.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – Team JEGS Pro Stock drivers Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. successfully qualified for the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals Saturday with some strong passes down Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

With only a pair of chances to make the cut due to an abbreviated two-day schedule at this event, five-time class champion Jeg Jr. raced his JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the lofty No. 2 starting slot, while first-timer Troy Jr. scratched his way into the 13th slot in Marty Robinson’s JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Ford Mustang.

“We had a really good feeling coming into today that we’d perform well but you never know until you drop the clutch,” Jeg Jr. said. “Rickie Jones (crew chief) and the yellow and black JEGS crew did a great job matching the car to the conditions in both sessions. We were second quickest this morning and third best this afternoon, less than a hundredth of a second off the leader both times, so we’re pleased.

“It sure felt great to get back in the car after this unprecedented time away. We won the NHRA’s season opener and the (unsanctioned) Doorslammer Nationals before the COVID virus arrived in March so we had a fantastic start to the season. You just don’t know what could change in a long break like we had but so far it appears we’re picking up right where we left off.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – The long silence is finally over.  The best drag racers in the world roar back to life this weekend for the first time in four and a half months with the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway. It’s safe to say Team JEGS Pro Stock drivers Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Troy Coughlin Jr. couldn’t be happier to get back on the strip.

Jeg Jr. started off 2020 on fire, winning the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona and the one-off World Doorslammer Nationals in Orlando before the outbreak of COVID-19 halted all public gatherings. He currently sits just six points behind class leader and teammate Erica Enders, who won in Phoenix.

“I’m excited to get back to racing, and I’m sure everyone else is as well,” Jeg Jr. said. “Although we haven’t been competing professionally, the Elite team hasn’t rested and with as much prep time as we’ve had since the last pro race, shame on us if we’re not completely ready for this restart.

“I’m actually very confident in what we’ll be able to do. We had a great run going before the COVID pandemic, dating back into last season, with a strong run of wins and final-round appearances, and although it’s been nearly 140 days, we should still be right at the top of the charts.”

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XENIA, OH – A pair of powerful JEGS.com dragsters are headed to Kil-Kare Raceway for this weekend’s 15th annual Ultimate 64 Shootout. The yellow-and-black attack will be led by confirmed JEGS Allstars racer Paige Coughlin and her cousin Makenna Brown, who is stepping up from the Junior Dragster ranks this year.

While waiting out COVID-19 restrictions, Paige has been getting herself back up to speed with a pair of races in the last two weeks, the ACE Super Slam at Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio, and the K&N Spring Fling GALOT presented by Optima Batteries at GALOT Motorsports Park in Dunn, N.C.

“Just like it was last season, my JEGS.com dragster is running really well,” Paige said. “The main thing is it’s repeating, which is what you want out of your car more than anything. My guys, Justin Beaver and Tony Collier, always make sure I’m 100% ready to go and I thank them for all their hard work during this extra-long off-season.

“I’m so thankful to finally be able to race again. It was a long time out of the seat but once we got started again it felt like I’d never left. We are trying to stay as busy as possible and I know the schedule will be packed from here on out but we’ll be ready.”

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DELAWARE, OH – It’s always a thrill to buy a new vehicle. It’s dramatically more so if you have the chance to actually drive your new vehicle right off the assembly line. That’s exactly what six-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. got to do in 2018 when he purchased a new Jeep that was assembled in Toledo, Ohio.

“It was truly an amazing experience and made that particular Jeep very special to me,” Coughlin said. “I was the first butt in the seat, as they say, and I feel a real connection to my Jeep. I keep it down in Florida, where it’s the perfect cruiser for the beach.”

Coughlin’s special opportunity to visit the Jeep Plant at the Chrysler-Toledo Assembly Complex came from his professional relationship with Mopar and a long-standing offer from former Plant Manager Bruce Schabeck. Coughlin competed in a Dodge Avenger and a Dodge Dart in the past, winning the 2013 Pro Stock title in the HEMI-powered JEGS.com/Mopar Avenger.

“With the Toledo plant just a few hours away Bruce set up a deal where we could go up and have a tour of the facility the same day my Jeep was being assembled,” Coughlin said. “We actually started the process with our friends at Coughlin Jeep in Marysville. Although we share the same name, we aren’t related, but they are good friends and great people. We’ve done a lot of business there through the years.

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EPPING, NH – NHRA officials have announced a second JEGS SPORTSnationals event on the weekend of Aug. 21-22 at New England Dragway. The new race will bring national-event level drag racing to the historic Northeast locale, which lost this year’s regularly scheduled NHRA main event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are thrilled to team with our longtime friends at JEGS to present this event,” said Josh Peterson, NHRA Vice President-Racing Administration. “Sportsman racers are truly the backbone of our sport and the opportunity to give them another place to shine this season and the chance to do it with our partners at New England Dragway is a tremendous opportunity. The SPORTSnationals has been a rich tradition in NHRA for more than 40 years and we’re proud to help add to that history.”

Dating back to the mid-1970s, SPORTSnationals events feature high-level drag racing in eight of NHRA’s Lucas Oil Series categories. Drivers in Competition Eliminator, Stock Eliminator, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster will collect national-level points while carving out a share of more than $100,000 in prize money.

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EPPING, NH – NHRA officials have announced a second JEGS SPORTSnationals event on the weekend of Aug. 21-22 at New England Dragway. The new race will bring national-event level drag racing to the historic Northeast locale, which lost this year’s regularly scheduled NHRA main event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are thrilled to team with our longtime friends at JEGS to present this event,” said Josh Peterson, NHRA Vice President-Racing Administration. “Sportsman racers are truly the backbone of our sport and the opportunity to give them another place to shine this season and the chance to do it with our partners at New England Dragway is a tremendous opportunity. The SPORTSnationals has been a rich tradition in NHRA for more than 40 years and we’re proud to help add to that history.”

Dating back to the mid-1970s, SPORTSnationals events feature high-level drag racing in eight of NHRA’s Lucas Oil Series categories. Drivers in Competition Eliminator, Stock Eliminator, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster will collect national-level points while carving out a share of more than $100,000 in prize money.

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DELAWARE, OH – Late Baby Boomers and early Gen X’ers grew up reading Mad magazine and tried their best to live out the famous words of its fictional mascot Alfred E. Neuman, whose “What, me worry?” motto defined a generation of American youth.

For Jeg Coughlin Jr., the five-time NHRA Pro Stock champion who plans to retire from full-time competition at the end of 2020, a chance to have some fun and represent the mischievous comic book brand in 2004 was simply too good to pass up. In the end, the one-off Spy vs. Spy design his team ran at the second Las Vegas race in 2004 turned out to be an all-time best seller.

“Comic books were really big when I was a kid,” Coughlin said. “And, of course, everyone knew Mad and their freckle-faced, gap-toothed cover boy Alfred E. Neuman. Every time there was a presidential election they’d put him up as a write-in candidate and he’d always get votes.

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DELAWARE, OH – Adjustments to the NHRA drag racing schedule yielded a big present for Super Comp dragster pilot Paige Coughlin, who earned the right to represent Division 3 at the next JEGS Allstars event, scheduled July 9-11 at Route 66 Dragway near Chicago.

Coughlin, the daughter of three-time Pro Mod champion Troy Coughlin and granddaughter of Hall of Fame member Jeg Coughlin Sr., turned in an impressive streak of late-round finishes last season to earn the most points in her class in the North Central Division. With the Covid-19 pandemic erasing any early-season chances for anyone to make gains on her comfortable 21-point lead, Paige secured her place.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for me to represent Division 3 at this year’s JEGS Allstars,” Paige said. “Having our family business as the title sponsor of the event and knowing the history my dad, uncles and brother have had in the past makes it really special for me to be involved. I’m going to do everything I can to help our division win the event.

“I had a very consistent racecar last year and we were able to go deep at just about every race. It’s a real credit to my crew chief Justin Beaver, as well as Tony Collier, Greg Cody and everyone else from Team JEGS, who helped put this car together every weekend.”

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DELAWARE, OH – When Jeg Coughlin Jr. clinched his fourth Pro Stock championship with a victory in the fall of 2008 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his most memorable reward was a thrilling flight with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron.

“That was maybe the wildest thing I’ve ever done,” said Coughlin, who took the flight just two days after locking up the Pro Stock title. “Certainly, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something most people can only dream of, but I must admit it was more than a little intimidating.

“When you see a fighter jet zoom by overhead, which happens every few minutes at the Vegas track with Nellis Air Force Base just across the way, it always makes you wonder what it would be like to be in the plane itself. It’s like, ‘Man I’d do anything to take that ride.’ But when the situation actually presents itself, it’s a different story.”

Coughlin’s special day was orchestrated by Lt. Col. Brian “Bear” Lihani (USAF, Ret.), a longtime drag racing friend who for more than 20 years handled Air Defense Operations at NORAD.

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