NHRA
Troy Coughlin and son looking for double win in home state of Ohio
Courtesy of Jegs
NORWALK, Ohio (June 22) – This weekend’s NHRA drag race in northeast Ohio will be a special one for JEGS.com 
drivers Troy Coughlin, his son Troy Jr., and daughters Meghan and Paige. That’s because the site of the race is just 80 miles from JEGS headquarters in Delaware, Ohio, the Coughlin’s longtime hometown.
“Norwalk is a great racetrack,” Coughlin said. “I’m excited to get there. We’ve got more than 300 JEGS associates who are going to come up, hang out, and watch the races. We’ve got to do well there in front of all them.
“And we’ll have a lot of family along for the ride as well. The Coughlin family’s pretty big, and my wife’s family also is coming out. It should be a slew of people, but it’ll be a good time. Talk about a support group – it’ll be pretty awesome.
Canadian to race Top Fuel and Pro Modified at Norwalk
Courtesy of Tim Miller
Photo by Roger Richards
TOTTENHAM, ON – The upcoming Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals will be Ike Maier’s third big-league event for 2011 behind the wheel of the Paton Racing Top Fuel Dragster.
The June 24-26 race at Summit Motorsports Park at Norwalk, Ohio, will also be Maier’s third race with his Pro Modified this year as he will be competing in the two divisions with totally different race cars.
“You have to stay focused on each,” noted Maier about his plan on competing in a full-bodied, front-engined, rear drive Pro Mod and then stepping into the ultimate in the sport of drag racing, an 8000-horsepower, rear-engined, rear drive Top Fueler. The Pro Mod, with less than half the horsepower of the Top Dragster, will be raced on the traditional quarter-mile, while the fuel car is raced to the 1000-foot marker, a policy instituted by the NHRA two years ago.
Janis Looking Forward to Homecoming of Sorts at Norwalk
Courtesy Mike Janis Racing
Photos By Roger Richards (2000)
Elma, NY– The recent performance of Mike Janis and his Eaton Aeroquip Mustang has many in his home area of Western New York looking forward to attending this weekend’s 5th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA 
Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
“Of all the NHRA tracks we run at I would say I’ve raced at Norwalk the most. I’ve been running there for… gosh several decades,” laughed Janis. “Norwalk is the closest national event track for us, just three and a half hours from our shop, Jan-Cen Motorsports in Elma, NY.”
“It’s been a busy week back at the shop. People have been coming in to the shop all week telling us that they have been watching what we have been doing and that they are going to Norwalk to cheer us on. My Mom, sister and brothers are coming along with other family members and friends. It’s going to be a busy weekend in our Pit area,” added Janis.
Roy Hill & Grant Lewis Take Top Two Qualifying Spots in Bristol
Courtesy of Roy Hill Racing
BRISTOL, TN – The extensive testing Roy Hill did before the 11th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals 
presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers paid off in Bristol, as Hill and teammate Grant Lewis occupied the top two qualifying positions in the Super Stock category.
Lewis, from Jesup, GA, put the Goodyear Ford Mustang Cobra Jet on the pole with an 8.841 second pass, while Hill piloted the Coca-Cola/Alsco car to an 8.886 second elapsed time, good enough for the second starting spot. Hill had been working to bring his car’s performance on par with the second team car, and the one-two showing was the end result.
Janis Hopes Recent Performance Will Aid the Search for New Marketing Partners
Photos By Johan Lindberg
Elma, NY– In the last three races Mike Janis and his Eaton Aeroquip backed team has begun their climb up the point’s ladder. The Elma, NY based team has seemingly found the consistency that all drag race teams look for.
“We have made some very good progress these last three or four races. We have a unique combination that no one else out here is running so we are forced to learn from our own mistakes. Our converter program has helped us not just behind the bellhousing but in front of it. It has forced us to look at things that we never paid much attention to in the past. We are going for the Championship. Hopefully we can keep going rounds and make enough noise for people to want to become marketing partners with our team; it’s getting rough out here fighting the bigger teams.” We are looking for partners this year and especially major and associate sponsors for the 2012 season, added Janis.
While the new torque converter program that Janis is running may have helped the team find consistency it has also helped award them with a 75 pound weight penalty. The NHRA has implemented a new rule adding 75 pounds to any vehicle in Pro Mod competition utilizing a torque converter. This will once again force the Janis team to learn what their combination will teach them.
Troy Coughlin returns to site of career-best outing looking for more
Courtesy of Jegs
BRISTOL, TN – The last time Troy Coughlin won an event at Bristol Dragway he was awarded the largest cash prize of his career. This time through, the world champion drag racer would be happy with a simple little statue — the 
special-edition 60th anniversary pewter Wally awarded to the winner of the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series event to be held in conjunction with this weekend’s Ford Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals.
“We won the Winston Showdown and earned $50,000,” Coughlin said of his Y2K triumph in Pro Stock. “That was a cool deal, for sure, but that was more than 10 years ago. It’s time to make some new Bristol memories and winning our first Pro Mod race of the season and getting one of those rare Wallys would be very special.”
Racing crew chief Jake Hairston’s twin turbocharged 2008 Pontiac GTO until his new car is ready, Troy has become a bit of a cult hero on tour this year as he pits his small block machine up against the giant motor combinations of his rivals. But after posting a few competitive 5.9-second passes, he’s become more than just a sideshow.
Chris Demke and Maddern Racing Are Top Gun Bound
Courtesy of Maddern racing
Fallon, NV – Mid way through the 2011 drag racing season, Chris Demke and the Top Alcohol Dragster Team of 
Maddern are making their way 63 miles east of Reno to compete at Top Gun Raceway. This event marks the teams seventh appearance this year.
The Peen Rite / Clean Boost Performance Oil Team goes into this race as the Division 7 points leader as well as the Division 7 Jegs Allstars points leader and holding strong in 3rd place within the National Points Chase.
“We’ve done pretty well so far this year” notes Demke, “we have a good, consistent race car and we are very hungry to improve our position within the National Championship Points Series.
Points leader Coughlin eyes more success at Route 66
Courtesy of Jegs
CHICAGO, IL – Mike Coughlin will be looking to extend his lead in Top Sportsman’s North Central Division points 
standings when he brings his powerful 200-mph JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to this weekend’s Division 3 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Route 66 Raceway.
“We got off to a great start this year with the win in Indy, now the challenge is to see if we can pick up where we left off and then maintain that pace for the rest of the season,” said Coughlin, who already has two Top Sportsman D3 championships to his credit. “I like the fact that we are heading to Joliet for this race because it is one of my favorite tracks. It is an extremely nice facility and I’ve had some success there in the past. It’s a track that is very friendly to fast cars.”
Coughlin won the Super Comp class at Route 66 Raceway in 2005 and returned in 2007 to claim the Top Sportsman title.
Since his last race, Coughlin and his JEGS Mail Order crew, including Greg Cody and Tony Collier, have done little more than routine maintenance to the team’s Jerry Bickel-built Cobalt. Coughlin believes the car is as good as it can be heading into the race.
Spencer Massey, Mike Neff, Allen Johnson, and Matt Smith on WFO
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – NHRA Supernationals winners Spencer Massey, Mike Neff, Allen Johnson, and Matt Smith all join Joe Castello along with the NHRA’s Alan Reinhart, on WFO Radio NHRA Tuesday. To listen now, go to WFORadio.com.
Spencer Massey, won back to back races for the first time in his NHRA Top Fuel career with a victory over Del Worsham. Massey talks about his race, how things “slow down” once you’ve made laps in a Top Fuel car, and the true reason winning is so important.
John Force Racing, Funny Car driver, Mike Neff celebrates his Englishtown victory and his fourth final round in a row. Neff discusses how his past motorsports experience is helping him in find driving success in Nitro Funny Cars.
Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s ‘Six Shooter’ victory recognized on National Dragster cover
Courtesy of Jegs
DELAWARE, OH – The day that “National Dragster” arrived in the mail has long been a special one around the Coughlin 
household.
“With three older brothers and a racing father, the day the ‘National Dragster’ came was the highlight,” said Jeg Coughlin Jr. “We looked forward to it and fought over who got to read it first or you would hear “wait don’t turn the page I am not done reading”; since more than one was reading at a time. I’d sit there and pretty much read it from cover to cover when it was my turn.
“It still holds true to this day.”
The June 10 issue of “Dragster” is going to send even more excitement through the Coughlin clan and JEGS Mail Order headquarters because it commemorates Jeg Coughlin Jr. becoming the first person to collect national event wins in six different classes in the 60-year history of the NHRA.
“It wasn’t anything I ever set out to do,” Coughlin said. “It just kind of unfolded that way and it’s nice to be a part of a unique piece of history.”
