When you are born into the Coughlin family, drag racing participation isn’t mandatory; it’s recommended.
This weekend, as the NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series rolls into Bristol Dragway for the Thunder Valley Nationals, there will be three generations of the decorated racing family in attendance for the Father’s Day horsepower spectacular.
Jeg Coughlin Sr., no longer races, choosing to live vicariously through his four sons, and grandchildren, two of whom race in NHRA competition.
The foundation for the Coughlin dynasty began in the late 1950s when the patriarch started racing first in Gassers, before moving to supercharged alcohol dragsters and later the kings of the sport, Top Fuel, in the early 1970s.