Wishing to remain in the mix for national, regional and divisional titles this year, Team JEGS drag racers Mike Coughlin, his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr., and niece Paige Coughlin look at this weekend’s Battle at the Beech at historic Beech Bend Dragway as a big opportunity to stack up championship points.
“There’s going to be a lot of JEGS yellow and black over in Beech Bend this weekend and that’s really cool,” said Mike, who will compete in Top Dragster. “I’m thrilled to be back racing at a Division 3 event in a place as familiar as this track. I won my first divisional Wally (trophy) here in Super Comp in 1989 so it’s always been a favorite stop.”
In the last two D3 races, which were held in early July in Indy and Chicago, Mike came away with back-to-back victories, which pushed him into the D3 lead. He headed west after that and although he didn’t add to his win totals, he went enough rounds to work his way up to fifth in the national rankings.
“We made a change to a new Fowler F12 roots-style supercharger before those two wins and we’re going to stick with what we’ve been doing since the switchover,” Mike said. “The only issue we’ve had was dropping a valve in Seattle but Greg (Cody, crewman) rebuilt that motor since then and we’re good to go.
“We had fun out west and had a bunch of really close races out there. Greg, Tony Collier and Dave Raurk gave me a perfect car every round and when we got beat, every time it was just a good, close race that could have gone either way. We’ll hope everything falls our way again this weekend and we get another win.”
Troy Jr.’s most recent outing in the JEGS.com McPhillips Racing Top Alcohol Dragster in Atco, N.J., resulted in his second victory of the year. He also won the national event in Norwalk, Ohio. In addition to his wins, Troy Jr. has raced to four runner-up finishes this season. He’s currently ranked fourth nationally and second in the East Region.
“I always love the atmosphere at Bowling Green,” said Troy Jr., the reigning North Central Region TAD champion. “I’ve been coming here for as long as I remember with my dad and my uncles. The fans are awesome. The management and owners of the facility are always so cool. It’s one of my favorite places in the entire country to race.
“The McPhillips Racing dragster is all set with a fresh engine. We are ready to roll. The boys have worked hard all season long and we’re locked and loaded for a busy swing of races to take us down the stretch run of the season. This time of year is my favorite.”
Pulling double-duty, Troy Jr. will pilot a second Team JEGS Super Comp dragster alongside his sister Paige. “We will do what we can to help Paige,” he said.
In her final race before returning to Miami University of Ohio for her sophomore year, Paige is looking to solidify her lead in the Super Comp portion of the JEGS Allstars standings as well as continue her upward progression in the regular points.
The daughter of three-time Pro Mod champion Troy Coughlin Jr. and his wife Julie, Paige has competed in six NHRA events and a pair of high-dollar bracket races this summer, going deep into the elimination field nearly every weekend.
“I’m really excited to be back at Bowling Green,” Paige said. “This is one of my favorite races of the season and I’m looking forward to going back there. My JEGS.com Super Comp dragster has been running great this summer thanks to my crew chief Justin Beaver and I’m ready to go some rounds.”
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