DELAWARE, Ohio – With Jeg Coughlin Jr. ending his NHRA Pro Stock career at the conclusion of this season, Troy Coughlin Jr. will step up to take over the JEGS Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro tuned by Rickie Jones.
Beginning in Junior Dragsters, Troy Coughlin Jr. has raced in Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Dragster, several E.T Bracket cars, Pro Mod, Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Fuel and now Pro Stock. He won the Division 3 Super Gas title in 2013, the North Central region championship in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2018, and the East region Top Alcohol Dragster crown in 2019. He has 10 divisional/regional wins and eight more national event trophies.
He’ll now take his talents to the Pro Stock class, where the Coughlin family has enjoyed a multitude of success through the years.
“Competing in Pro Stock is who we are,” Troy Coughlin Jr. said. “My dad, his dad, my uncle Jeg, it’s a pretty incredible legacy to follow and I couldn’t be more humbled and honored to move it forward.
“Drag racing is a unique part of what keeps our family together. It’s what we talk about at the dinner table. It’s what drives our customer base at JEGS. It’s everything for us. I think it’s really important to have a JEGS car in the professional ranks to constantly remind everyone we love it as much as they do. I’m so lucky to have this chance.”
Troy Coughlin Jr. is the latest in a long line of Coughlin family members to compete in the NHRA.
Just one year after the inception of the Pro Stock class 50 years ago, JEGS Automotive joined the battle with company founder Jeg Coughlin Sr. grinding gears in his JEGS-sponsored car. Troy Coughlin Sr., one of Jeg Coughlin Sr.’s four sons who now own and operate JEGS, was next to contest the factory hot rod class, running various yellow-and-black hot rods from 1994-2004. Then came Jeg Coughlin Jr., who won five world titles and 65 races in the class during a 24-year professional career before retiring at the end of this year.
“I’ve been lucky to race so many different cars through the years but nothing has been as challenging as Pro Stock,” Troy Coughlin Jr. said. “It’s a constant challenge to try and make a perfect run each time down the track. I try not to set any expectations but I think we all know great things are within our grasp. We should continue to be major players in the class.”
Like Troy Coughlin Jr., Jones was born into the sport, following his father Rick Jones from drag strip to drag strip as a child. The elder Jones found success in the IHRA Mountain Motor class and later in Pro Stock Truck (where Troy Coughlin Jr.’s uncles Mike and John competed), both as a tuner and driver.
At the same time, he started building racecars, and his creations have since claimed numerous world titles, most notably with multi-time champions Warren Johnson, Greg Anderson, Jason Line and Erica Enders.
Jones would later become a competitor himself, racing in Pro Stock and Pro Mod from 2008-’13, before joining his father on the tuning side of the equation. He’s spent the last seven years working on the cars of Enders, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Aaron Stanfield and now Troy Coughlin Jr., who is three years his junior. As a side business, he also helps a variety of sportsman racers tune their cars.
“Having Rickie as the crew chief is the best-case scenario for me,” said Troy Coughlin Jr. “In testing he was always real calm on the radio, which I really liked, and during the season he was someone I could talk to about anything in regards to the runs I was making. He knows Pro Stock as both a driver and a crew chief, plus he drove in Pro Mod too, so we’re a lot alike in many ways. We’ve been down the same roads.”