With one bold stroke, Troy Coughlin is going from an underdog to potentially one of the top dogs in the NHRA's Pro Mod series.

Coughlin, who finished 12th in the 2011 Pro Mod standings, raced most of the season with a small block engine GTO that captivated the imagination of a lot of hard-core fans, but didn't win too many rounds on the track.

"That was a fun little car to drive but it just didn't have to power to keep up with the rest of the field in Pro Mod," Coughlin said. "I needed a different car to stay competitive in that series."

At the tail end of the season Coughlin unveiled a new turbocharged JEGS.com Chevy Camaro, and this year one of the best turbo tuners in the business, Steve Petty, will be calling the shots.

"We didn't get that much of a chance to totally figure out the new car before the end of the season," Coughlin said. "But with a guy like Steve in our corner now, I feel confident we'll hit the ground running in 2012.

"We'll test a lot this off-season and get totally up to speed before we race. And when you get up to Steve Petty speed, you're on top of the world."

Petty-tuned turbo machines won four of the last five Pro Mod series races in 2011, and Coughlin said he's elated to have that kind of racing resume in his corner.

"I've been friends with Steve for awhile but we'd never had a chance to work together," Coughlin said. "We've made the commitment to run the turbo Camaro for the foreseeable future, and there's no one better than Steve with a turbo car."

At the very least, Coughlin wants to add a few more Pro Mod Wallys to his list of career accomplishments, which includes multiple victories in NHRA Pro Stock competition, membership in the Holley Six-Second Pro Stock Club and Speed Pro 200-mph Club, a trophy run at the exclusive $50,000 Winston Showdown, various sportsman-level wins, a memorable weekend at the $50,000 Big Dog Shootout, and his NMCA Pro Street world title in 2009.

 

Vehicle: JEGS.com 1967 Chevy Camaro
Series: National Hot Rod Association, Pro Mod, NMCA Pro Street
Hometown: Delaware, Ohio
Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
Age: 47 (DOB June 30, 1964)
Family: Julie (wife), Troy Jr. (son) & Meghan, Paige, Kelly (daughters)

2012 Car: JEGS.com Chevy Camaro (turbocharged)
Crew Chief: Jake Hairston
Years racing: 25 (19 as a professional)
Professional victories: 3 (2 in Pro Stock, 1 in Pro Mod)
Professional final rounds: 13 (12 in Pro Stock, 1 in Pro Mod)
Sportsman wins: 1 (Super Gas, 1991 U.S. Nationals)
Sportsman final rounds: 1
Total NHRA national event victories: 3
Total NHRA national event final rounds: 13
Total NHRA divisional event victories: 2
Career-best elapsed time: 5.928-seconds, Englishtown, N.J. 2010
Career-best speed: 255.82 mph, Las Vegas, Nev. 2011

Troy Championships
Year	Event	Location	Class	By Cls
2002	O'Reily Nationals	Topeka, KS	Pro Stock
2001	NHRA 50th Nationals	Reading, PA	Pro Stock
2000	Winston Showdown	Bristol,TN	Pro Stock
1991	U.S. Nationals	Indianapolis,IN	Super Gas

Troy Divisional Wins
1993	Indianapolis Raceway Park	Indianapolis, IN	Super Gas
1991	Beech Bend Raceway	Bowling Green, KY	Super Comp

Troy Final Rounds
Year	Event	Result	Opponent
2003	Reading	R/U	Warren Johnson
2003	Phoenix	R/U	Greg Anderson
2002	Bristol	LET
2002	Bristol	Q1
2002	Topeka	Win	Mark Whisnant
2001	Reading	Win	Tom Martino
2000	Chicago	R/U	Ron Krisher
2000	Gainesville	R/U	Warren Johnson
1999	Pomona-2	Q1
1999	Topeka	R/U	Mike Edwards
1999	Denver	R/U	Jeg Coughlin
1999	Chicago	R/U	Warren Johnson
1999	Phoenix	R/U	Kurt Johnson
1998	Pomona-1	R/U	Jeg Coughlin
1997	Columbus	R/U	Tom Martino

Troy Special Events
2005	NMCA Barett perf. Nationals	Valdosta, GA.	Pro Street
2005	Big Dog Challenge Champion	Piedmont, NC	Big Dog

• Claimed his first major event win in 1991 when he won the Super Comp title at the Division 3 Lucas Oil Series event at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky.
• Won his first national event title in the Super Gas class at the 1991 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
• Earned a runner-up finish in Super Comp at the JEGS Allstars event in Columbus, Ohio in 1992
• Became the first of the four Coughlin brothers to turn pro when he made his Pro Stock debut in 1994
• Reached his first Pro Stock final at the 1997 Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Columbus, earning a runner-up finish to Tom Martino
• Became the 11th member of the prestigious Holley Six Second Pro Stock Club in 1997 after running a 6.972 elapsed time in Pomona, Calif.
• Posted his first top ten finish in Pro Stock (8th place) in 1997
• Qualified No. 1 in Pro Stock at the NHRA Auto Club Finals in 1999
• Became the ninth member of the Speed Pro 200 mph Club in 1999 after running a 200.47 mph speed in Richmond, Va.
• Won the $50,000 top prize at the Winston Showdown, a special invitational event held at Bristol Dragway in 2000
• Won his first Pro Stock event at the 2001 NHRA Pep Boys Nationals, in Reading, Pa.
• Won the $50,000 top prize at the Big Dog Shootout at Piedmont Dragway in Greensboro, N.C. behind the wheel of his Pro Street entry (2005)
• Won his first NHRA Pro Mod Series event in Englishtown, N.J. (2005)
• Won the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) Pro Street Series Championship (2009)
• Officially became the fastest member of the Coughlin family with a 255.82 mph run in his turbocharged JEGS.com Chevy Camaro in Las Vegas (2011)

• Oldest daughter, Meghan, works in the family business, JEGS Mail Order
• Son Troy Jr. is an up-and coming NHRA sportsman racer with two national event victories in the Super Comp class
• Works in family owned business, JEGS Automotive/JEGS Mail Order.
• Is the second oldest of the four Coughlin brothers.
• Brother John can be found racing in Top Dragster and helping with his son Cody's circle track effort.
• Brother Mike races in Top Sportsman.
• Brother Jeg Jr. races in Pro Stock.
• Enjoys spending time with family, including watching his daughters compete in Equestrienne events