Pro Stock Car
Jeg's Mail Order

Questions and story by Dwight Drum
Photos by Gary Larsen and Dwight Drum
Web work by Gary Larsen

"Jeg Jr."

Jeg Coughlin Jr. carries the Coughlin name with an ever present big yellow on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series circuit while displaying dignity. Jeg's provides speed via the mail and on the track too. Jeg Jr. is a champion with a humble spirit. We caught him between speedy moments so you could enjoy his words told to Zoomster.

Dwight chats with Jeg Coughlin Jr:

"I miss driving the race car. No question about it. That's always the most enjoyable part, driving and getting the feel for various tracks, hopefully winning, certainly the goals. The crew and I are a tight family. We're always together, so I'd say I'd miss the car."

"Just growing up in the sport. I always enjoyed racing… period. My father was a Top Fuel Dragster professional. My brother John started racing in 1983. I really took a liking to it, the philosophy and gaming of it. I definitely wanted to get that started as soon as I could, so I did some racing when I was 14 or15 in some street categories. I always enjoyed watching to the point I really felt I wanted to race Top Fuel someday. That sounded great. It's in the blood, there's no question about it, but as I grew older and the sport continued to mature, I really just had a heart for the door slammers, the way the engines sound and rev, the way we tune and work on them. I realized that when I was in competition eliminator in 1997. We were going to build a Pro Stock truck when the class was new, and at that time we were coming off a relationship with Warren Johnson. We elected to run Pro Stock cars instead. It happened kind of quick and unexpected. That wasn't in the plans. We really race year-to-year. We always try to plan ahead of course, but not usually more than six months. We get so wrapped up in the business of the current year. I really enjoy were I'm at. I've enjoyed being affiliated with Chevrolet and the GM group. It's home for me."

"Focus, probably having it in the genes doesn't hurt. Being around the stuff all my life, a lot of it becomes second nature. The race car feels great but the runs are typically second nature. That's the way you want it to be, you want everything to be subconscious; therefore you can react to any given situation. That's been one of my strong points. Just having the feel for how the car is running and what it needs between gears, if anything, giving feedback after the runs, come see the fans and then of course you've got 40 channels a day that we analyze from a computer."

"The mental drive is strong. That's what gets us up and out of bed every morning. To go to work, to come racing or whatever the case may be, but you've got to be strong, you need that drive. Your whole team needs that drive. It's a team sport. It's a zero tolerance world right now. Everybody on the team has to have the same level drive, 110 percent is necessary everyday. That's what our team strives for."

"Wow. I've never heard that. You know I thought it was instinctive and I thought it was taught as well. When I was growing up, I started racing in the sportsman class. After I raced street eliminators I started getting into super gas cars, running 140mph. My father would offer tidbits of information on how to learn from a run if you won, and how to learn from a run if you lost. I think that was definitely taught. I've had the fortunate ability of being around the sport for a number of years and see what happens in situations with different levels of class. There are a lot of factors that go into that."

"Not really. The media has covered it. Know who you and what you do. I'm kind of a home body. I love being a t home with my wife and little son Jeggie. We built a beautiful home a couple of years ago. Every now and again we'll take a vacation and just stay home. Every time we do, I think it's kind of neat."

"Another thing that people don't know about our family as well... We just started a new foundation, a racing for Cancer Research foundation, which is really a neat thing. We're not soliciting for money, which is uncommon in today's world. We're really working to spread a good message and seeing a Cancer emblem we designed on our fire suits and outside one of our cars is something we're proud of. We're partners with two great national cancer institutes in Columbus Ohio and Cleveland. That's real exciting. We're looking forward to help meet their concern.

"No, but I remember driving to one of the races a few years back and we worked our tail off all week, getting cars ready to race. We're driving to the race and I see this beautiful rainbow. It was six in the morning, on one of those foggy mornings. It was a great big rainbow. I thought we were going to get to the bottom of it. That pot of gold wasn't there, but it was later that week we won that race. That was cool. Great experience."

"Yeah, the more the better. I think the physical aspect in our sport maybe isn't as important, but the mental aspect is extremely important. Still, the more physically fit you are the better you are at performing in different situations. I've worked on the past three or four years and shed about 20 lbs. I feel great."

"I feel great, and I think 2003 is going to be a wonderful year. It's exciting for us coming in as the reigning NHRA Powerade Pro Stock car champion. You know Powerade naming the drink after the sport now is huge. That's really exciting that there's going to be a million bottles of Powerade with the NHRA racing theme on it. I think that's big. That makes us excited as a family as a sponsor, and as a team. A lot of great things are in the air right now. I know Powerade is getting ready to unveil some new things that they're excited about that we'll be a part of….lots of good stuff."