Interview conducted by Jeff Burk

(Ron Lewis photo)

Jeg Coughlin Jr. is without any doubt a true “racer’s racer.” He has won races and championships in every class he has raced from bracket racing to Pro Stock. He has won an inordinate amount of Pro Stock races by pure driving ability and has shown that no matter who tunes and builds the engines, builds the car, or owns the team, he can make the team a winner. He is also a pure racer. His newly announced self-imposed hiatus from NHRA Pro Stock racing isn’t the first time he has stepped away from the professional ranks and then returned to be as good or better than he was before he left.

He is quick to point out that driving a Pro Stock car is a hobby not his business which is to run (along with his brothers) the giant JEGS mail order and manufacturing business.

DRO publisher and editor Jeff Burk asked Mr. Coughlin to submit to an exit interview and what we came away with was a conversation which definitely proved that Jeg Coughlin Jr. is definitely a businessman with a positive outlook and one that always sees the glass as half full instead of half empty.

: You rank among the best ever in the class of Pro Stock. Your driving skills appear undiminished. Why did you decide, to quote you, to "step away" from participating in NHRA Pro Stock competition full time in 2011?

Jeg: Driving an NHRA Pro Stock these days is really a full time job. It takes a lot of time and dedication to do that job. Racing for me is really my hobby; it is my golf game. I just decided to take a little vacation from the grind of being a professional NHRA Pro Stock driver and pay more attention to my responsibilities to both our family’s business and my family. I will be racing my sportsman cars and I’m not ruling out the occasional Pro Stock race, but I’m just not going to race a Pro Stocker full time next year.

The Pro Stock celebrated JEGS 50th anniversary. (Jeff Burk photo)

: From a purely business point of view as one of the owners of one of the world's largest speed equipment mail order houses, do you believe that an NHRA Pro Stock program delivers a good return on the investment as far as public exposure is concerned?

Jeg: Yes, I do. I’m very happy with the exposure that the JEGS-sponsored Pro Stock got this year. I especially like the coverage the Pro Stock class got from the ESPN broadcasts. I think they were very beneficial for us (JEGS).