[via www.theautochannel.com]

Jeg Coughlin Jr. enters this weekend’s NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals as the fourth-seeded driver in the Pro Stock class. Coughlin trails leader Mike Edwards by 87 points with five events remaining in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. 

Jeg Coughlin Jr. is a four-time NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champion. He earned season titles in 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2008. As a sportsman driver, Jeg also claimed the NHRA Super Gas championship in 1992.

With 52 career Pro Stock wins, Jeg Jr. ranks fourth all-time among Pro Stock drivers. Only Warren Johnson (97), Bob Glidden (85) and Greg Anderson (62) have more titles.

After the first 18 races of the 2010 season, Jeg Jr. has claimed four wins and appeared in six final rounds in NHRA national event competition. He earned victories in Houston, Atlanta, Sonoma, and Brainerd and also reached the final round in St. Louis and Denver.

Racing in the Top Dragster class, Jeg Jr. also won the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals earlier this season behind the wheel of his brother, John’s 200-mph JEGS.com dragster. He posted a runner up finish in Pro Stock at the same event.

In 18 races in 2010, Jeg Jr. has qualified in the top half of the field 15 times and has not been seeded lower than 12th at any race.

In 278 career Pro Stock races, Jeg Jr. has reached the final round 83 times, recording 52 wins. Including his 14 sportsman victories, Jeg Jr. has won a total of 66 times, good for ninth place on NHRA’s all time wins list. During his career, Jeg Jr. has appeared in 102 final rounds, 83 as a professional and 19 as a sportsman racer.

During his Pro Stock career, Jeg Jr. has recorded 468 round wins while incurring just 213 losses. He has failed to advance past the opening round just 66 times.

zMax Dragway is the only facility on the NHRA Full Throttle tour where Jeg Jr. has not won. Built in 2008, zMax Dragway has hosted just three NHRA national events. Jeg Jr. won the coveted K&N Horsepower Challenge at Norwalk Raceway Park in 2009.

In his most recent appearance in Charlotte at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in March, Jeg Jr. qualified in the No. 1 spot with a track record 6.520-second run. Jeg Jr. has qualified No. 1 17 times in his career. He was also the No. 2 qualifier at the inaugural zMax event in 2008.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals will feature the latest round in the Get Screened America Pro Mod series which features Jeg Jr’s brother, Troy Coughlin. Currently, Troy is ranked fourth in the Pro Mod standings with his nitrous oxide-equipped JEGS.com Chevy Camaro.

Troy Coughlin is the only Pro Mod driver to have qualified for all eight events in the Get Screened America Pro Mod series thus far in 2010.

There are two events remaining in the 2010 Get Screened America Pro Mod series and Troy Coughlin trails leader Von Smith by 146 points.

The JEGS Mail Order team will also include Jeg Jr’s fiancée, Samantha Kenny, who will be racing in the Super Comp class with her JEGS.com dragster. Samantha is a former NHRA national event champion. Her father, Alan, and brother, Jason, also race in NHRA competition and have previously won national event titles.