The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas) April 6-8

The JEGS Mail Order team will be well represented at this weekend’s Denso Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals by Jeg Coughlin Jr., who will be racing in Pro Stock as a member of the Elite Motorsports team.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. will continue his pursuit of a sixth NHRA Mello Yello Pro Stock title (and seventh overall) at this weekend’s event in Las Vegas. Jeg Jr. will be sporting a new look when he takes the wheel of a flat black and yellow Chevy Camaro. The car, which is new to Coughlin, was built by Rick and Rickie Jones of RJ Race Cars.

Last season, Jeg Jr. finished at the No. 7 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class. He finished in the top ten for the 17th time in his career, which began in 1997.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. is once again racing as a teammate to two-time world champ Erica Enders. The Elite team also includes Pro Stock racers Vincent Nobile and Alex Laughlin. Jeg Jr.’s crew chief is multi-talented Rickie Jones, who has extensive experience as a driver, chassis builder, and tuner. The Elite team also includes crew chiefs Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Brian “Lump” Self, who regularly share data.

After the first three events of the season in Pomona, Phoenix, and Gainesville, Jeg Jr. enters this week’s event at the No. 11 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class.

This weekend’s Las Vegas event will be contested using the Four-Wide format on the newly constructed four lane dragstip. Pro racers will compete four at a time with the top two finishers from each “quad” advancing to the next round.

In Las Vegas, Coughlin is also one of eight Pro Stock drivers who will compete in Saturday’s K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special $50,000 to win event that is open only to the top qualifiers from the previous year. Jeg Jr. is the No. 6 seed and will race Jason Line in the first round.

Jeg Jr. has won the Pro Stock specialty event three times in his career. He won back-to-back titles in 2000-01 and scored again in 2009. This will be his 14th appearance in the K&N Challenge.

During his career, Jeg Jr. has won the Pro Stock title five times in Las Vegas. He claimed a win at the inaugural event in 2000 by beating Warren Johnson and returned in 2001 and 2002 to post final round wins over Jim Yates and Warren Johnson, respectively. Jeg Jr. also won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009, beating Greg Stanfield in both final rounds.

In addition to his five Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. has also posted three runner-up finishes in Las Vegas. He reached the final round at both the spring and fall events in 2001 and the fall race in 2014. 

Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field 16 times in Las Vegas including a best of No.1 in 2007 and 2008, and 2014. During his career, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top spot 23 times.

In 30 appearances at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (including the Fall event), Jeg Jr. has a round win record of 49-23 in Pro Stock competition.

In addition to his Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. also won the Super Comp title at the Spring Las Vegas race in 2012.

Jeg Jr.’s best elapsed time in a Pro Stock car is 6.484 seconds and his best speed is 214.62 mph, both recorded in Gainesville in 2014.

Jeg Jr. is a five-time NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion. He earned season titles in 2000, 2002, 2007-2008 and 2013. As a sportsman driver, Jeg Jr. also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.

Including The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event at 24 different facilities making him the all-time leader in that category. The only current venues on the NHRA Mello Yello tour where he has not won are the tracks in Norwalk and Epping.

Last season, Jeg Jr. became just the 10th NHRA racer to win 600 elimination rounds when reached the semifinals in Topeka. He currently has 609 round wins. The other nine drivers with 600 wins are: John Force (1,288), Warren Johnson (874), Tony Schumacher (810), Greg Anderson (769), Ron Capps (683), Kenny Bernstein (682), Antron Brown (681), Larry Dixon (678), and Doug Kalitta (627).

Jeg Jr. is the only professional racer in history to win a national event title from all 16 starting spots. During his Indy win in 2000, Jeg qualified No. 16.

With 58 Pro Stock wins in his career, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Greg Anderson (90), and the late Bob Glidden (85) and have more titles.

In 408 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 102 times, recording 58 wins. Including his 18 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 76 times, good for ninth place on NHRA's all-time list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 126 final rounds, 102 as a professional and 24 as a sportsman racer.

During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has competed in 408 events and has a round-win record of 609-334. He has red-lighted just 22 times and failed to qualify just 16 times.

The Coughlin family, including John, Troy, Mike, Jeg Jr. and Troy Jr. has combined for 116 NHRA national event victories since 1990. The Coughlin's have won in nine different eliminators including Pro Stock, Pro Stock Truck, Pro Mod, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman and Top Dragster.

Team JEGS - By the Numbers (Denso Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals Edition)

3 - Wins for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the K&N Horsepower Challenge (2000-01, 2009).

6 - Wins for Jeg Coughlin Jr. in Las Vegas, five in Pro Stock) and one in Super Comp

7 - Different classes where Jeg Coughlin Jr. has won at least one NHRA national event title (the only driver to do so)

10 - Number of classes where the Coughlin family has earned an NHRA national event victory

101 - Holeshot wins by Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock class (tops among NHRA pro drivers)

116 - Combined NHRA national event victories for the Coughlin family