DELAWARE, Ohio" The mostmemorable moment of John Coughlin€(tm)s 2005 season
came not as a driver, but rathera car owner as rising sportsman star Brad
Plourd drove Coughlin JEG MailOrder dragster to a victory in Super Comp
the biggest and most prestigious eventof the season, the NHRA Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals,.
That was definitely thehighlight of my year, said Coughlin. It didn't
matter that I wasn't driving.Anytime you can have the yellow and black JEG
Mail Order colors in thewinner circle at 1/19/2006Raceway Park it a
good thing.
The Indy win wasn't the firsttime Coughlin has experienced success as a car
owner. Former Super Stock champAnthony Bertozzi drove Coughlin JEG
Mail Order Chevy Cavalier to a victoryin Pomona, Calif., in 2003 and fellow
sportsman champsHugh Meeks III and Jack Beckmanhave also had success in
Coughlin-owned race cars.
Though he has enjoyed watchingothers have success in his cars, Coughlin is
more focused then ever on his ownsuccess as he heads into the 2006 season.
Once again, the oldest of the fourCoughlin brothers will race two cars; his
Super Stock Chevy Cavalier and adragster that will see double duty in Super
Comp and a number of high dollarE.T. bracket races.
Last year, I think I drovepretty well, but I wound up losing a lot of
close races in the Super Stock car,said Coughlin. I am comfortable in that
car so I didn't feel that we needed tomake a whole lot of changes. All I
really need is a little more luck. Hopefully,some of the close rounds will start
to go my way this year. I want to reallyfocus on driving my two cars this
season. I'm going to try my best andhopefully, I'll be the guy out there
chasing the championship at the end of theseason.
Coughlin expects to take deliveryof a new dragster from Mullis Race Cars
early this season and will hit theground running in early March with several
big E.T. events before racing in theDivision 3 Lucas Oil Series opener in
Indianapolis April 7-9.
I'm also pretty excited aboutrunning in some of these big bracket races
around the country, Coughlincontinued. A lot of those racers are our
customers at JEG Mail Order and I'mlooking forward to meeting them. There are so
many cool people in sportsmanracing that we have fun just about everywhere
we travel.
At most events in 2006, Coughlin will be joined by his brother, Jeg, who has
decided to return to NHRA sportsmanracing after a successful seven year
career in Pro Stock.
I can't wait to race with Jega gain, said Coughlin. He the best there
is and he a lot of fun to have around. Having him race with us should have
a positive effect on our whole team.
When not tending to business at JEG Mail Order or racing his own cars,
Coughlin also expects to help his10-year-old son, Cody get his start in the
NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League.
It going to be a very busy year, he said, but I can't wait to get
started.
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