Team Jegs preview

Team JEGS / Pre-race Notes NHRA Tire Kingdom Gatornationals Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla. March 10-13

The Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals will mark the season debut for Troy Coughlin in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series. There are ten Pro Mod events on the schedule for 2011. Last year, Troy Coughlin drove his JEGS.com Chevy Camaro to a fourth place finish in the highly competitive series.

Troy Coughlin

Andrew Wolf

Troy will be racing a Pontiac GTO in Gainesville that is owned by Team JEGS crew chief Jake Hairston and his family. The car is powered by a 396-cid turbocharged engine and has already run speeds of over 240-mph. Troy expects to drive the Hairston entry for the first two events while he awaits completion of his own Chevy Camaro that will also feature a turbocharged engine combination.

In 2010, Troy was the only driver to qualify for all ten events in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series. He also qualified in the top half of the field four times and his average qualifying position was No. 9.

At the 2010 Gatornationals, Troy qualified in the No. 11 spot with a 5.998-second run and lost in round one to eventual winner Kenny Lang via a red-light.

Troy Coughlin has won NHRA national event titles in three classes; Pro Stock, Pro Mod, and Super Gas. His last Pro Mod title came at the Englishtown, N.J. event in 2005.

Troy will be accompanied in Gainesville by his son, T.J., who will be driving his JEGS.com dragster in the Super Comp class. T.J. won his first NHRA national event title in Las Vegas in 2009 and claimed a win at the sport’s premiere event, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, last season.

In 2010, TJ Coughlin finished as the eighth-ranked Super Comp driver in NHRA out of more than 1,300 competitors worldwide. He also finished fourth in the North Central Division Super Comp standings.

On Thursday, March 10, JEGS Mail Order founder and Coughlin family patriarch will be honored as an inductee into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame presented by Lucas Oil. Coughlin will be honored for his many contributions both on the race track and as a pioneer in the automotive aftermarket industry. The Hall of Fame is located at the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Fla., and the induction ceremony will take place at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center.

Jeg Sr. is being inducted along with fellow motorsports pioneers Leonard Abbott, Joe Amato, Rich Guasco, Clayton Harris, Fred Sibley Sr., and Ed Almquist. With the inclusion of the six 2011 inductees, there will be 234 members in the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1991.

The entire Coughlin family, including Jeg’s four sons, John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr., are expected to travel from their home base in Delaware, Ohio to Gainesville for the induction ceremony.

The Coughlin family has enjoyed past success at Gainesville Raceway as Jeg Coughlin has raced to a win in Pro Stock at the 2001 Gatornationals, defeating Mark Osborne in the final round. Jeg was also a runner-up in Pro Stock three-straight years from 2002-2004. Troy also posted a runner-up finish in Pro Stock at the 2000 event, falling to Warren Johnson in the final.

The Coughlin family, including John, Troy Sr., Mike, Jeg, and Troy Jr. have combined for 90 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlins have won in 9 different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Comp, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman, and Top Dragster.