Bio

As the son of a drag racing legend and little brother to three successful racing brothers, Jeg Coughlin Jr. was probably genetically predisposed to straight-line success. But even the most optimistic of sporting prognosticators would be surprised by the accomplishments of this 37-year-old superstar, who has already etched his name in NHRA’s record books as one of the best to ever don a helmet.

By the end of his 2007 championship charge, Coughlin had amassed a stunning total of four world titles and 51 national event victories. Only eight people in the 56-year history of the sport have more race wins and his peers in the championship column read like a Hall of Fame roster, with the likes of John Force, Don Prudhomme, Gary Scelzi, Tony Schumacher, Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, and Bob Glidden joining him on his lofty perch of competitors with four or more series titles.

Helping his father Jeg Coughlin Sr. prepare a Top Fuel dragster for competition as a boy, Jeg Jr.’s racing career started early, but with his parents placing an emphasis on education over weekend’s at the drag strip, he didn’t start winning trophies until he was well into his college studies.

He was 20 when he won his first national event at Columbus’ National Trail Raceway, a rather senior age for someone born into the sport to claim their first trophy. But he quickly made up for lost time and within two seasons was crowned the best Super Gas racer in the world.

The accolades rolled in from there. In 1997, he became the first (and to date, only) racer to win national events in four separate categories; Super Stock, Super Gas, Comp, and Pro Stock in the same year. He turned professional near the end of that very season and he quickly proved he belonged at the top level of drag racing by winning his second race behind the wheel of a Pro Stock car at the SuperNationals in Houston.

Within a year, Jeg went from promising rookie to championship contender, finishing a respectable second in the 1998 points standings while earning membership in the exclusive Speed Pro 200-MPH Pro Stock Club.

By 2000, Jeg had established himself as a dominant force in Pro Stock, winning six of the first seven events and 10 races overall. He won the invitation-only Holley Dominator Duel for the second straight year and clinched the NHRA Pro Stock championship well before the end of the season.

Jeg won the title again in 2002, claiming eight national event titles along the way in an exciting chase that featured him making one of the best second-half surges ever.

Never finishing lower than sixth in any of his other pro campaigns, Coughlin returned to the top of the drag racing world in 2007 with Victor Cagnazzi Racing. Competing under a brand-new playoff-style points system, the man many of his peers regard as the best Pro Stock racer in the class mastered one of the toughest fields ever assembled to win his third Pro Stock title on the last day of the season.

Considering he’s still in his thirties, Coughlin’s already stellar resume will certainly get better in the year’s ahead. With continued corporate funding from the family’s mail order business “JEGS High Performance” and plenty of encouragement from his son Jeg III, Jeg Coughlin Jr. is always ready to chase more of his dreams down the quarter-mile.