NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

In a career that’s peppered with a list of accomplishments, this weekend Jeg Coughlin Jr. is adding another milestone to his long résumé. “The Natural,” as he’s often called, will notch his 500th professional NHRA event start.

Coughlin’s pro career began in 1997, and since then, he’s won 69 races, raced to 52 runner-ups, and earned 35 No. 1 qualifier awards. In 1998, he was awarded the prestigious title of NHRA Rookie of the Year and also has four victories at drag racing’s biggest event, the U.S. Nationals.

This all culminates in 1,150 rounds raced with 736 wins, five world championships in Pro Stock, equalling a 64% win ratio.

On this special landmark weekend, Coughlin reminisced on the top five of his greatest moments across his professional career.

Moment One: You Always Remember Your First (Pro Stock) Win 
“After 499 starts, I've had so many cool highlights to single out just a few makes it kind of tough, but I'd say one of my biggest highlights was naturally 1997, our second Pro Stock event that we entered, we came up the last one standing, and got the win at Houston. We always have high expectations and big hopes, but to pull off a Pro Stock win in our second event was pretty special, and something our team was very proud of, and something I was very proud of from behind the wheel as well.”

Moment Two: Indy Win is Sweeter in Pro Stock, Especially From No. 16 
“I've been fortunate to win Indy and Super Gas in 1992, but the 2000 win was really special because we were not qualified going into the very last session. Indy is a three-day qualifying series, and we qualified barely on the very last session. I think we were like 13th or 14th when I ran, and then we got bumped back to 15, then down to 16th, and the last couple of pairs ran and didn't bump us out. So we stayed at number 16 going into Monday's finals. We were able to wave that magic wand and pull the rabbit out of the hat, and win from the 16th spot, which had never been done to that point, or since. So that was a pretty, pretty cool moment.”

Moment Three: New Format Provides Cutthroat Championship Chase
“The first year, the countdown in 2007 was a different format than as we know it today. We had four of the last six races. The first four of those last six, eight competitors challenged for the final four spots for the last two races. A little bit confusing, and hence, maybe why it went by the wayside quickly, but it was a very cutthroat environment. I was able to make the first cut of eight for the first four races of the countdown, and barely hung on. I think I finished fourth leading into Vegas and Pomona. We struggled with our car in Vegas, and I think I left in third place because Greg [Anderson] was ahead of me. Dave Connolly was ahead of me.

“Everything moved to Pomona the next two weeks later, and as we'd have it, I qualified really well. I was, I think, seventh or eighth pair, first round of Pro Stock. Greg had gone out in front of us on a holeshot, and Dave Connolly went out on a red light, so that put us in position to have an opportunity to surpass them in the points. I was able to drive through the first round and win, and come back. It was a winner-take-all second round, and all the chips were on the line, and we were fortunate to get the best of, I think, Richie Stevens. Round two played out as a great run, and we celebrated victory for the championship in 2007, and then two rounds later, we also celebrated the race win.”

Moment Four: Brotherly Love Tied Up in 100 Wins
“I think number four really doesn't have anything to do with Pro Stock, per se, but our family has been very fortunate to be out here at the NHRA races for a number of years. We’ve been fortunate to win some races and win championships, and in 2013, our family got our 100th Wally for the 100th national event. Troy [Coughlin] won Pro Modified at the Las Vegas closer. He won the world championship that day, and he signed the bottom of his trophy that day for our 100th win to me, and it says, ‘To Jeg: You’ve paved the way to the 100th. This one’s for you. Love, Troy.’”

Moment Five: Holeshot Wins are Fun
“As stats are kept, it was neat to hear over the loudspeaker from Bob Frey one day that I was the leading holeshot driver in all of NHRA with 100 and something holeshot wins at the time. I just thought that was interesting because I remember losing, but I don't always remember much about winning. Having those holeshot wins is fun as a driver. I’ve had several against me, too, and those sting more than the ones that you win. I think these are the stats that rank high in my top moments.”