Heart, Horsepower & Heritage. Troy Coughlin Jr Blazes His own Path

I'm Troy Coughlin Jr., driver of the JEGS.com, Chevrolet, Camaro with Elite Motorsports, and

you're listening to the JP Emerson Show.

Welcome to the JP Emerson Show, where we ride shotgun as you tell your story.

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Our guest today is a third-generation racer whose legacy is built on speed, precision,

and passion.

From his early days in the NHRA Jr. Dragster League to victories in Supercom, SuperGas,

and ProStock, he's proven himself across every class he's entered.

With deep family roots in motorsports and a growing brand, which we are definitely

going to talk about, he's not just racing, he's redefining the culture.

It's my pleasure to welcome Troy Coughlin Jr. How are you doing, Troy?

Doing awesome.

How about yourself?

I'm doing great.

What's it like having a week off?

I won't say it's slow.

I've got two kids at home and my wife, Brenna, she's got me moving around pretty

good.

So there's always something going on between add and skews to the website on

Jax.com and playing with the kids and hitting the simulator.

Yeah, well, that's good.

You know, that's something we definitely want to bring up.

Not necessarily, you know, your wife giving you things to do.

Hey, you know, that's that's that's part of it.

But let's let's let's talk about, first of all, for anyone that may not

know you. And of course, you know, as we discussed previously, you know,

we're not just a racing show where we're all automotive collectors,

muscle cars, all the all the good stuff that, you know, people like.

Tell us a little bit about yourself before we talk about what you do

before you get in the race car.

Well, I'm just a just another geek that really loves the sport of drag

racing and then commerce doing business.

I really enjoy I've just created an apparel company called Revelry One

and it's it's new.

It's a lot of fun.

It celebrates the nostalgic and the vintage times of drag racing

and other motor sports and and it's just it's just been a ton of fun.

It's something I've always liked to do.

And big avid Ohio State University sports fan, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Indians.

You name it, Columbus Blue Jackets.

Or if we're not at a game or at work, at a race, that's we're running

around the house playing hot wheels with my little son and my little daughter.

Anything we can think of?

Yeah, yeah, you know, I'm going to throw this out there

because I literally just saw this commercial.

I know you mentioned big Ohio State fan.

Huge game to start the season this year against Texas.

I was kind of surprised that that was, you know, I mean, when you think of

usually the big schools, you think of a cupcake, the first game or two.

Texas is certainly no cupcake.

It's going to be a battle.

What do you think it's going to be serious?

I think it will come down to the fourth quarter.

We've got some new guys.

We had quite a few guys move on to the next level and in football.

And we've got a quarterback.

His name is Julian saying he came from Alabama.

I think he's I think he's going to do really well.

There's a lot of kids that are going to step up probably as sophomores

that were freshmen during their first season, their national champions.

So they're excited to get out there and write their story.

So it's going to be a good time in Columbus.

Yeah, yeah, at the old horseshoe.

So, you know, we know a little bit about sports here, too.

Speaking of you mentioned earlier, you working

on SKUs and getting things set up again for anyone that is not familiar

with who you are, they will certainly be familiar with the company.

Tell us about that.

Jags.com is an amazing place.

I've, you know, I grew up here.

I was raised here.

Gosh, you know, I've done things from answering customer service calls

to stock in the back of the retail store at 11th Avenue, our original location.

Swept the floors at the shop.

Gosh, you know, the warehouse, putting packages and trucks.

And it's just a wonderful group of people with great leadership.

And we've always kind of had the the theory of this.

The answer is yes.

And the customer, we take care of 100 percent.

And that includes our employees, too.

We just like to have a place where you're valued and where you enjoy

coming to work and even as a customer where you feel valued.

And there's a great functionality here with the people here.

Just you have to be here to really witness the atmosphere.

It's it's a lot of fun.

And I call it a way of life.

Yeah. And again, for anyone who may not be familiar

quite just yet with you, what is your relation to Jags?

So my grandfather started Jags in 1960 out of an old equipment shed

off I 71 in Columbus, Ohio, and he had four sons and they were just as

entertained and tickled by it and grew it even further into a world

headquarters here in Delaware, Ohio.

And here I am, the the next generation that's really enjoying

the fruits of what he's created.

And and I just can't wait to see where it goes.

Like I said, our show isn't just racing or.

Automotive, if you're in the cars, in the bikes, into anything that goes fast,

you certainly know the name Jags.

I mean, you can't be part of the automotive community and not know the name Jags.

How much how much have you really thought about the legacy that you

are part of being part of the Jags, not just the Jags team, but the Jags,

the family.

It's a it's a big honor, you know, every time I think about that,

I just think of the the great times that we've had and what's to come.

And even the employees here, they're they're just as much family.

So it's a it's a really powerful brand story.

It's just telling that story sometimes is there's so much to it.

But my I didn't go to college, so I went right right to work.

I was 16 and then after my senior year, I just went to what I

call Jags University and all my professors, which most of them are still here

upstairs here at headquarters.

They taught me so much from from how a camshaft works to how to sell a camshaft,

to how to properly sell the parts that we offer and to help someone with

any issue they may have and just learning great soft people skills.

There's there's so many awesome things about about being here.

And that's like my grandfather always said,

our people make this possible.

And I know I echoed that a lot at the races, but a lot of truth to that.

And you got to mean it.

I have to imagine knowing the ins and outs of not just Jags,

but how things work as a as a driver.

Does that does that help you in any way?

We've asked this question on the show before,

especially of drivers, if you're a driver,

especially of drivers, if if they know how the engine works,

how their car is working, are they better able to communicate

what they feel or see or or maybe you just made a run down down the track?

You feel something that isn't quite right or something you want to just

is it easier for you to communicate that to your crew?

I certainly think so.

I think, you know, a pro stock is such a high efficient level

with an engine that's as efficient as that is is a little bit more intricate

than the stuff that I'm used to working on, like the bracket cars, the big block shavies.

So I believe it or not, I learned something new every week with these cars.

And that's that's a joy for me as well.

I really like that part of it.

But yeah, I think it definitely does, you know,

knowing the general sense of how things operate,

you know, an internal combustion engine or how the suspension works,

how it functions, what changes do, how the clutch works

with counterweight coming in or it's just to name one example.

But there's so much to these cars.

It definitely helps to be familiar with your atmosphere.

And I ask a lot of questions.

I mean, I can't imagine what my crutch is.

And those guys think it's a question.

I mean, doing this for four or five years now,

but I'm still asking to learn and something new

because there's no ceiling for knowledge.

Yeah, well, that's true. That's a great point.

How did you obviously growing up in a family

that obviously was surrounded by racing?

How did you first get into racing?

What was your what was your your your track to where you are now?

I mean, was it just saying, hey, I want to try this?

Or did you feel a little tug to go?

Hey, you know, my family's doing this.

I kind of want to do this, too.

Kind of works both ways.

You know, I watched my dad, my whole life and and my uncle Jag

and Uncle John and Uncle Mike.

It's just it's what you did.

You piled in a American Eagle Motorhome and you went racing.

But really, I I just kind of fell in love with the fact

I enjoyed to compete.

I just thought it was fun that you could if you got better,

if you could get better every run and learn to get better every run

that you could do, you could win a lot of races

and do some extraordinary things.

But I remember my the Christmas was like 96 or 97.

My dad was a Santa Claus, I should say,

we were the junior dragster right into the foyer.

And I was six and my older sister, Megan, was eight.

And coming out that morning and seeing that thing

on these big jack stands, I mean, right there, I knew this is.

This is awesome.

There's nothing else I want to do and got into juniors.

And then I remember being at a grocery store

with my mom and going over the magazines.

And there was the drag racing action magazine with Jag on the cover

doing a wheelie and it said, wonder boy, and talked about him

winning his second pro stock race.

And I just remember being in awe, seeing him in this magazine store.

And I'm like, you know, this and here he is.

He's gone from sportsman to professional.

And I'm like, this is this is a path I really want to go down.

This is what I want to do.

This is who I believe that I am and what I believe my gift is.

But an uncle Jag has been a huge factor in my driving, for sure.

So it's been been an exciting ride.

Yeah. Yeah. How old were you when you first?

Do you remember your first race?

I mean, how old were you?

And what was that like for you?

Oh, I was seven.

It was a junior dragster.

I won my first round somehow.

Those cars were so inconsistent back then.

And some believe it was a pullstart, brakes and strats and five horse.

Trails going to trails.

I was really a year too young, but somehow on my tech card, I just put I was eight.

I mean, yeah, now it's five to eight.

You're allowed to race.

So pretty neat real change there.

But it was it was it was surreal.

You know, I was really happy, yet still kind of in an atmosphere

where being in the seat is so much different from watching and enjoying.

I mean, you're in the decisions are on your shoulders

for what you're about to do.

And bracket racing, you either take the finish line or you get behind

and you're working on staging, you're working on hitting the tree.

There's just so many cognitive factors that are so new

that in the beginning, you're just kind of an immense

in it so well that, you know, it's it's surreal.

Yeah. How does juniors

when you were doing it, not like it was 50 years ago, but, you know,

just a short time ago when you when you were doing it compared to juniors.

Now, you know, you you see

obviously both boys and girls, both very competitive.

And I have to assume that's that's somewhat different than

than maybe what it was when you were doing it.

But how does the driver and the cars

of when when you were there compared to what you see today?

The kids today that drive, they're just they're good.

They're tough. There's so many good resources

to go learn how to bracket race like Luke Bugakis.

This is bracket racing dot com.

You can go on there and just get an arsenal of information.

Heck, when I go bracket race, I still prefer to this.

And the kids, they're taken to it out of total interest.

And it's so exciting to see and the cars are getting more consistent.

The the engines are intricate.

You know, it's just like probably my grandfather,

what he says when he watches drag racing today,

he probably sees what I see in juniors today for one.

So it's exciting.

It's great for our sport.

Heck, all these shows and podcasts

and that's so awesome for our sport because it's entertainment and it's intimate.

You know, your drivers and with the technology we have today,

we can we can all communicate and tell our stories.

I think as someone that

I'm not obviously brand new to racing, but I am just a few years new

into actually my very first drag race, which happened to be the Gators.

But that was my very first time actually at a sanctioned event.

I've seen plenty on the road

and we certainly don't condone that.

But having said that, you just hit upon something that people ask us all the time.

What's it like at the drag races?

And, you know, other than the obvious, you know, it's loud, it's fast.

But it's like an entire event going on.

It's a sensory overload.

And oh, yeah, there happens to be a car going 300 miles an hour down the track.

Also, you know, there's there's music.

There's food, there's, you know, meat and greets.

You literally can walk up to, you know, the driver or the crew

and talk or get an autograph or or or basically whatever you want to do,

which is so unlike just about every I I guess I have to say every other sport

because, yeah, you might be able to go up to a fence and grab a player or something.

But you're not going to have a conversation with with people or watching them,

you know, mix nitro or or anything like that.

I mean, it's it's your word was it's so intimate.

And I can't stress that enough to anyone that is into any type of automotive.

Check out a drag race. Check out a real drag race,

whether it's an HRA or or or any sanctioning body.

It's you'll go back.

You'll go back to me and it's like you said, it's sensory overload.

I mean, you know, speed and horsepower that just brings great curiosity.

And if you have that kind of mind and and and see joy in items like what we're doing,

you have to get there because the TV show does zero justice for this.

That's what's wild. It's a great show.

The Foxes and Fox Sports One and Fox Sports, they do a fantastic job.

But you've got to be there.

There's nothing like being there.

It's sensory overload and you can actually watch

in Tron Brown if you wanted to mix his nitro

before his run and cutting it with the alcohol and and he'll he'll narrate

the whole thing for you and you'll see a guy stripping a blower on the car

or pulling the the rack out, taking the rods and pistons out of the nitro cars.

It's it's wild. If you go over to the pro stock pits,

it's more of your engineers class, the tinkerers class.

He's he's looking for one horsepower.

We're looking for five thou just to move up two spots on a ladder.

So it's more of your, you know, 98 point something percent

volumetric efficiency engine lovers that are just

just watching this just get tinkered to death to try and pick up every ounce of

ET that we have. So it's it's neat.

All the gear ratios getting built in the transmissions.

And you could see him pull the clutches out, cool them down.

We don't really rebuild engines in between rounds like the field guys do.

But it's just a, you know, different entertainment look for pro stock.

Yeah, yeah.

I know we've been asked this quite a few times, especially when we had drivers on.

What was it like the very first time you went up to the line?

You know, obviously you practice it many times, you know,

and I'm sure there's many times you've gone down, maybe with somebody

in the lane next to you. But when it counts,

what was that like for you?

And can you and can you explain what it feels like to to do that?

Well, when you practice, it's silent and you're staged perfect.

So there's really less going through your mind.

The more you can bring that to the real runs in the cars

is a very good thing. But it's just there's a jack factor

when you're staging against somebody and you're going to race

I mean, I've always looked at it as I'm racing myself.

I'm going to be the best version of myself and make the best run

that I possibly can between letting the clutch out well

and banging through the gears on time and keeping at the groove.

But it's, you know, a lot of a lot of breathing

and a lot of just relaxation and the more relaxed and calm

and really peaceful that you can be.

I really think that's that's just going to enhance your ability

to to do what you practice, even the load of the sound of the engine

and the feeling of the g force when you let the clutch out.

It's it's hard. It's it's very cognitive.

It's it's extremely mental.

Yeah.

Are you strictly focused down the line looking ahead?

Or are you are you constantly scanning?

Or maybe do you even realize that you're constantly scanning?

Are you just using that peripheral vision and just looking where you're headed?

In the pro stock car, my eyes are on the sand trap area

because the further out I gaze, the more I'm going to keep the car where I need it to go.

You should keep your eyes where you want to go.

That's the absolute dead center.

That's something my father taught me early on.

But and you're pulling gears with the shift light in your peripheral.

I mean, it's a big yellow light, but a big.

And it you can see it really well on your peripheral.

So I'm looking as far down track as I can.

And so if it's going left and you just kind of feel it,

you guide it back over and and while all while banging gears.

And it's a it's a pretty unique class of pro stock.

Now bracket race constantly scanning your, you know, you let go, you leave.

OK, where is he?

I know I can go this and he's here.

So this is how this should be.

You're constantly scanning your opponent.

So and if you're the slower car, you're not quite watching.

You're looking back. Sure. Sure.

Just another type of racing.

I I know. I know this isn't something that in particular

that racers like to talk about.

But as the watching public, they they have a.

They have a general both concern and interest in something that,

you know, we don't like to bring up, but things happen when you're racing.

Of course, you know, if you're not, if it's not happening,

you're not racing hard enough, I think, as I've heard before.

But however, when there is an incident, you know, and of course,

we heard about this many times, you know, you in a in a fuel car,

maybe, you know, a blower explodes or a belt goes or something.

What is that like when you are inside the car?

You know, obviously, you prepare for that.

But when it happens, is it instinct?

Is it what is happening in your mind when that happens?

On a top fuel car, you know, I've only had one really big explosion.

It was the first round at Chicago in 2017.

And it just the engine just totally leveled.

And just the harmonics of the explosion.

I mean, nitromethane is a it's a bomb.

And it's a bomb, especially, you know, when compressed, it's it's extreme.

And really, it just you just the sound and just a boom.

It's just wild.

It's kind of fascinating in a way, expensively fascinating.

Sure. But, you know, you're just thrown up into the belts

and your head goes forward and you're like

almost out of wind, knocks the wind out of you.

When you're you're throwing the belts pretty good.

It's pretty powerful.

You really have to respect what what you're behind and really

get good at, you know, the fuel cars, they really drive you.

You're just keeping them out of trouble.

Sure. It's a unique skill for those guys.

If I go to the flip side of that, what was it like?

Tripping the windlight where your very first win.

Oh, boy, let's see.

I was 15 when I won a junior race, but I only won one.

But when I was 19 at Las Vegas and Supercom,

there's a eighth round, it was an eight round race, national event.

And I remember I was by the looks of the finish line,

the way I was approaching it as I was going to get there

and I was going to be safe.

So I pumped the gas a couple of times to make sure we were a dead owner

above our dial and took like a hundredth and change.

And just that when the windlight comes on, it's just so rewarding.

It's like years of your life flashed

in front of you, just the excitement, joy and the preparation that you did.

Working on the practice tree, you know, studying runs from finish line racing

and watching Jag and my dad, Mike and John win all those races.

And now you get your own and you earned it yourself

along with my guys that were racing with me

in our shop over here at Jags.

It's just very elating.

There's really the first nine seconds after your final round,

when light comes on, it's there's no description for those emotions.

And you almost can't duplicate that.

Mm hmm. You enjoy all of them.

But the first one is just so youthful.

It's it's so much fun.

It's fun to share those memories with people.

My grandfather was there.

Gosh, yeah, it's it's worth the toil

in the effort that we put into being the best drivers we can be.

Having one.

Multiple times is there is there one

other than the first one that just stands out to you that just said,

you know, these are all great, you know, and I know people say,

you know, the best one is the next one.

But is it is there one that just.

Has that little extra special feel to you that said this one night?

This was probably my my favorite win.

Well, winning on Monday at U.S.

Nationals and Supergassy and Supercom

was really exciting, but I'm also an avid bracket racer.

And I remember it was day five of the Moroso five day,

which is a very coveted high dollar bracket race

that the best in the country come to.

And it was the fifth day.

I had won the semis and if I win the final, I win the points.

And I just remember thinking, gosh, I've been watching this race

on the computer since I was like six, seven,

watching guys like Jay and, you know,

Troy and Gary Williams and Kenny Underwood.

And I mean, there's there's a million of these bracket races,

guys that are just unbelievable.

And here I wasn't rolling up for the final.

It's the night time. It's beautiful.

The stars are out. I'm like, man, take this in.

This is the coolest ever.

And when my win line came on, I just that was it.

I'm like, this is this one will probably be one of the most special

wins in my life just because of the the names that have participated,

let alone won this event, you know, Scotty Richardson and Richardson.

Yes, Steve Cohen. I mean, there's so many names

I haven't mentioned that deserve to be mentioned.

I'm very fortunate to get to do what I do at the level

that I do it.

And that's thanks to the wonderful people at Jags family.

I've always said, I'm the luckiest kid in the pits.

Yeah. And I mean that in the most humble way possible.

Yeah. Yeah.

Have you ever felt any?

I don't know if pressure is the right word, but

but I'm going to use pressure to live up to the Jags name.

That's an honor. That's fun.

That's the the joy.

That's the thrill seeking part of it out of it that I get is.

Yes, it's mainly self-induced pressure because I'd like to do

well, not only for myself, but to represent my family and its brand.

I have to imagine there's there's some sort of pride.

I I I'm going to I'm going to plead ignorance here,

but I seem to remember I can't recall if I was actually there

or I watched it.

But didn't your youngest daughter have like a baby race

or something that she won?

Yeah, she did.

I where was that?

That was in Houston the last year of Houston ran.

And it was so much fun.

Red Line Oil put that on the Natalie Torrance organized it.

And that was a blast.

They're supposed to do it again this year at Indian.

My 10 month old son is going to participate.

How much fun is that to watch

and and and just revel in that?

Nothing like it.

Seeing your kids enjoy the race track.

It's a family affair always is it's still surreal for me.

I'm still new to this.

My grandfather told me this when, you know,

my kids started coming to the races with me.

He's like, you're going to feel something different at the races.

He says, you're going to see why it's such a wonderful family sport.

And you're really going to understand what I meant

and how much joy I get out of just watching you guys.

So I see.

I think, again, if I can touch on this.

Something else that you literally just mentioned is family sport.

And and certainly.

There's other sports that are family oriented.

You know, you got your football, baseball, basketball,

you know, families enjoy that.

But I don't know that I've ever seen, you know,

certainly when you have a big race, you have families in campers

and they're there, they're not just there for the race.

They could be there an entire week.

And they'll plan vacations around it and they're barbecuing.

And I mean, this is a full blown adventure for them as.

I'm going to I'm going to refer to you as the

not the not the next generation, but the younger generation of racers.

What is that like for you to be in the pits or

motoring along, you know, on a golf cart or bike or whatever it is.

And you have that father, son, daughter,

somebody that just wants to shake your hand or talk to you or get a picture.

What's that like for you?

You know, it's it's an honor.

That's why I walk a lot of places is so I can, you know,

if a fan wants to stop and chat, I'd love to chat.

Because I like to hear their stories, too.

And I appreciate them coming and buying a ticket with NHRA.

But it's an exciting platform to get to reach people, you know,

God put people on this earth for a reason.

And that's just this platform, I think,

is a gift that he's blessed me with to to come and reach people.

You know, maybe somebody struggling, maybe they're down about something.

And if we can help make their day, that's that's a that's a win for me.

Mm hmm.

Obviously, your family would be a part of this.

But who inspired you both personally and professionally?

And how do they do that?

My uncle, Jag, probably seeing him on cover of that magazine.

I was probably nine.

Yeah, eight or nine years old.

And just seeing that his effort that he's putting in when I go to his house

and hang out with my little cousin, Jag three, was over there

almost every weekend, it seemed like.

But he's the time he would put in on a simulator, on a treadmill, on a elliptical

and and just really squeezing the best out of himself

and trying to be the best that he can be is really what I like that.

I enjoyed the pursuit of that.

You know, he's he's a natural motorsports athlete.

And I just like the pursuit of of trying to learn,

trying to get better every single run.

So Jag, Jag was a huge part of of my total success.

And so is my dad.

You know, my dad, he's he's taught me car control.

I mean, he's driven some fast cars with the promo in class.

So I've learned a ton from him

and getting to work with your dad like that on that level is really cool.

It's very humbling because you're listening to what you've been

you're taking and if you just listen to him and and give him that time,

you're going to learn a lot.

I remember Papi telling me that he's like,

if you just listen to your dad and work with your dad and Jag,

you're you're you're going to you're going to go somewhere.

Yeah. Yeah.

Of of the current racers, the current crew chiefs, you know, everybody involved.

Is there someone in particular that you really enjoy racing against?

Or is there somebody that you, you know,

I mean, you're racing against the same people almost all the time.

You see them all the time.

You know, it's it's like a great, you know, I almost said fraternity,

but it's it's a fraternity and sorority.

But it's a great community.

But I know I've personally seen off the track

teams helping others, something that you would never see in other sports.

But is is there a driver or a team

or somebody that you can you can be out to dinner with one night

and the next day you're going, you know, hey, I'm I'm going to get you here.

You know, I'm what who would that be for you and what's that like?

Well, you know, essentially, I'm always racing myself mentally.

But. Gosh, you know, even we're going through the same thing.

We all want the same thing.

We all want to win.

There can only be one.

So nobody understands that more than your competitors.

I really appreciate racing against guys like Dallas Glenn.

He's got look at look at the things he's driven

and how well he's done with them and how well he's adapted to this pro stop class

from the very, very first time you ever drove.

Has worked his way up in there, worked really hard, worked on teams,

worked with Jason Lyon and Greg and and, you know, there's another driver.

Kelly Murphy, he's actually my clutch guy who has a license

and has raced a few races.

And this, the passion that he exudes for the class into drive is exciting.

So I really like racing with people with that mindset, you know,

the love of the game, love of the competition.

But yet you can still converse with them because you guys,

we understand each other more than than people think.

But I like racing against Uncle Jake.

There's something to race in your your teachers and my dad.

I ran my dad a couple of times in prom.

Yeah, that's funny.

My grandfather, he'd say, gosh, I just don't know what to do.

I don't know where to stand.

I can't stand when you race each other.

I said, Papi, you shouldn't think that way because when I do a burnout

and I go to back up and I look over in the other lane and see your childhood hero.

There's nothing better.

Yeah, that's that's that's a good way to look at that.

I guess I'll change my mindset.

What is one lesson racing has taught you that you apply

outside the track, off the track, outside the car.

Patience and persistence wins, you know,

whether you're working on a different way to hold the clutch pedal in

with your foot to get faster.

And it doesn't quite work out for the first couple of races.

You have to be patient.

You have to be persistent, keep practicing, keep keep going.

I mean, don't stop.

Let it come to you and don't overthink it.

You know, that's that's another thing I've learned is

is you got to shut your mind down sometimes.

So a lot of a lot of interesting lessons.

There's probably so many.

But to think of one just learning how to be OK with patience

and sticking with it with persistence and and really enjoying the journey

because it's really all about the journey and who you're with is in the end.

When we go home to the Lord, I mean, you're all this

toil I call it down here on on earth is essentially meeting this.

But it's it's left here.

Sir. Enjoy who you're with.

Enjoy what you're doing and enjoy the process and it's it's going to come.

If if a young family, a driver, somebody comes up to you and says.

I'm thinking of doing this or here's where I am.

And I I'm not really sure what to do or how to improve this.

What advice do you give them to encourage them?

First, I say, hey, anybody can do it.

If I'm here, you can be here.

And first, you wish them success.

But really, I when they're young and their kids,

I just hey, listen to your parents, learn respect

and and, you know, really enjoy your working with your parents.

And obviously, you're going to work on this project together.

But really, you know, once you get through

kind of the introductions of that and then you hear what their goals are.

Well, I want to run a super comp car.

OK, well, I recommend looking at a car here, an engine here,

power glide here, a converter here and get a Mickey Thompson tire.

And, you know, this is just my opinions, of course.

But and then go to this is bracket racing dot com and go learn how to do it.

Go to one of the bracket racing schools

because you can learn so much and benefit so much.

But but really, the younger crowd, I really hone in on just learning

to respect and and, you know, do the right thing and revel in that.

Doing the right thing is is taking the high road at times.

But it's important and big, important lessons,

especially within drag racing, because it has such highs and lows.

You're not going to you're not going to win as much as you get beat.

So you have to really learn to have patience and cope

and and really understand what you're doing and and love the process.

If I put you on the spot here, we've had this question on our show before.

I love the answers because you get to see a little more of personality of our guest.

But if you are if you are building a Mount Rushmore of drag racers,

I'm going to give you five people.

And then I'll if you don't mention it, I'll mention it at the end.

But who are you putting on it?

Well, that's tough.

Of all drag racing, you got to put Big Daddy there.

So he was a pioneer.

The snake because he really made drag racing marketable.

Bob Blitton.

Lee Shepard.

Those guys are just raw drivers and engine builders.

They paved all these guys paved such an amazing road for us to do what we love to do.

As far as a fifth one goes, I mean, there's probably a million

that I'd like to put on there, honestly, I think Jaggy Jaggy equals.

He's he's just natural and he he loves it, too.

You know, the joy you can see it in his eyes.

And that's what makes him so good.

Yeah, yeah, just a natural, gifted driver and just about anything he gets in.

And that's that's cool to watch.

That makes it that you should see the fans when they see Jaggy.

It's it's really exciting. Yeah, yeah.

I I think it's funny again, we like I said, we we've asked this question.

And of course, you know, everybody has their opinions and, you know,

family members, you know, you know, Schumacher was on one

and, you know, Anders was on one and someone, of course,

you know, you know, you know, Antron had a great answer.

Of course, in typical Antron fashion,

he had thrown in an extra one and he was going to put John Forrest

but only on the back of it because he always has something to say.

So but I think it's I think it's interesting to see.

People that are in the sport and in that community,

they they don't just.

Pick up a driver and say, this is my guy.

This is, you know, I'm all in for this guy or girl.

But they pick up that community and they're like, hey, these are all great

people. These are all people that that helped build

the racing community that I enjoy.

And I think that falls back on the

on the family atmosphere that is so prevalent in drag racing.

You know, it's certainly you see you do see it in another auto

automotive racing, you know, NASCAR being one, you know, I mean, just in fields

just, you know, look like a state fair.

I mean, there's all kinds of things going on.

But I think what sets drag racing

and for it is the opportunity to interact

personally with with the drivers and the crew.

And I think you see that permeate through not just the stands,

but the branding as well.

I mean, you know, a tortilla sponsoring a race.

I mean, these are these are things that family connect with.

And and when you, especially with yourself, you talk about family,

you know, it's it's real.

That's what makes it so personal.

It's exciting, too.

You know, you can bring your your four year old and six year old

and you're not going to see something that you don't want to see.

You're going to see good holes of people in the in the pits that are

just working and racing and doing what they love.

And they might gain an interest out of it.

But I would agree.

I think it's the most family friendly all around sport.

I mean, if you go to Norwalk, there's a family section in the stands.

The Baiters up at Norwalk, it's just the things they do for drag racing.

That's just another echoing upon your statement of the people.

The sport is really what make it so great.

That would be a great example.

It's it's a passionate industry with passionate people, fans and all.

So it's you have to understand like even when emotions run high

at the at the races, whether it be at a finish line or anything,

that's it's just a passionate sport and that that that's just part of the excitement.

Yeah, yeah, I I'm going to ask this because I know we have many listeners

that, you know, again, are aren't new to racing.

But I know things that they ask all the time,

especially when they recognize our guests.

And and this is going to be for our our automotive fans.

If you could have any car

past or present in your garage.

What would that be and why?

That's a tough question.

Lately up at one, like a square body, like a seventy three or two C 10,

I think would be a good time, but you can't beat a Chevelle.

Oh, you're asking the parts guy.

I don't know.

I always loved it when the square body guys would call and and call for

panels and hoods and.

I'm going to go with the C 10 because that's that's that's what I want to do.

Now, I would put a big block in it, though, might not be an L S,

but definitely a big block because we want to get around it.

I just think from a family side going to watch fireworks or going to watch

a drag race and use their truck bed as a place to hang out and sit.

And that's it.

Yeah, that is that's a great choice.

So the C 10, I mean, that's one that's that's a nice one.

Is there a a particular car story, you know, one that's personal to you?

Maybe it was a road trip or a trip to, you know,

your grandparents or something that you did that

you don't just remember the event.

You remember the car or truck or whatever it is, something that transported

you there. What would that be?

Probably this old American Eagle Motorhome that we had.

It was from the mid 90s, but 95, 96.

I just remember all piling in this motor home.

Me, my dad, my older sister, Megan, Jag, Mike, John, everybody,

just all the different music you'd hear.

We go to Edgewater and Cincinnati.

And this is before the company really grew to levels that, you know,

we needed to be there more and just the memories of everybody being together.

That just was was really a lot of fun.

That's what inspired me to want to have a family involved in drag race.

So I think just piling in that motor home and going,

it was just an old diesel pusher and and it was fun, you know,

happy, happy love to come and watch all of us too.

I mean, I was too young to race then, but just memories of being

at Edgewater and national trails.

Everybody piled in and went together.

We ate together.

Some of us would get a hotel room.

Some of us would stay in the motor home.

There's so many of us and we was only grown.

So yeah, very, very fortunate and that God has blessed us

with with such a giant family to share great memories with.

Yeah, yeah, that's great.

That's a great answer.

Tell me, what does orange race built to inspire mean to you?

Well, a comment like that is it's like your life in one sentence.

Essentially, it's what I do.

It's not who I am.

But gosh, the statement like that just makes me

want to have more grit and get after it.

You know, you're born to race.

This is what you're born to do.

It's the gifts that you were given and the desire has to always be lit.

And that's the exciting part to me.

I don't really look at that as a burden or a task.

You know, it's not even work.

It's it's joy, especially even here at Jags, putting skews on the website

or answering a call. It's not work. It's joy.

It doesn't stressful times.

But I love it.

I just love helping people.

I love being there for people and encouraging people to build their projects

or go race their cars and and if I can ever help, you know, that's I'm all in.

Hey.

If I can if I can interject a personal question here

and we're going to see how much you squirm when I answer it or ask it.

But what would you like to be better at?

And if we ask the same question of your wife,

what would she want you to be better at?

My wife, Brenna, she would say gardening gardening is just not a strong suit.

And I think, you know, when I say the joy things, I don't know

that gardening ranks well.

But, you know, if I was gardening with my wife, Brenna,

that's probably a little bit better to be involved because I enjoy spending time with her.

But she would say gardening, for sure,

as far as what I want to be better at, I just want to get better at going up

and staging consistent and making good, consistent runs on the racing front.

And as a life front, I want to be a better father every day

and a better, better uncle, you know, a better son.

You know, it's just something that you always strive for, I guess,

in essence, doing the right thing and being kind to people and helping others

and as God intended. Yeah. Yeah.

Is there a household chore that you absolutely are horrible at?

Oh, man, if Brenna were on the show, I'm sure you'd give them good ones.

Changing light bulbs is easy.

I mean, you take the trash out, it's easy.

I mean, there's nothing really you dread.

I have to think about that, you know?

Heck, I was power washing the swing set off the other night.

And I really enjoyed that because it was therapeutic.

I don't know.

You know, it's a newer home.

I built a house in 2020, so it really hasn't been cleaned in the gutters.

You know, there's one. That's always something that's just kind of,

it's a little time consuming, but it's got to be done.

Right. Right. That's true. That's true.

When you're when you're at the track or you're on the track or you're

on the track or you're on the track or you're on the track,

when you're at the track or you're out and about,

what's your go to meal?

Is there something that you just absolutely have to have or is it

depending on where you are?

I mean, what what is it that you just

not only are you looking forward to the next race or the track,

but you're already saying, oh, I like that place because that place has this place.

There's a lot of those. I'm my father's son.

We like to eat.

There's a lot of those places.

Gosh, we're going to Brainerd.

There was Zorba's on the lake.

That's a really good pizza place in Brainerd.

That's a fun time that has good food.

But during racing, I generally eat like little bits of deli meat,

a lot of a lot of ham, certain cheeses.

Sometimes I'll have one of those meal protein bars or a shake

just to kind of keep you keep you going, because there's nothing

like stuffing in a race car feeling stuffed.

I think you're going to make your best run because you're already distracted

just by being bloated or full, which I've learned that the hard way a few times.

Do you have a routine when you're when you're at the track

or do you recognize a routine that you do or do you just do it?

I read a lot in between runs, different Christian books

or sports books have been enjoying a lot of Tim Tebow books right now.

A lot of walking just to keep your your legs moving.

Great fans walk.

I usually listen to put a little little classic rock on up there

up in the lounge and some it'll drive some of the younger guys.

That's on our team. Oh, Mike, it's like you can't be Led Zeppelin.

That's just music. I mean, it's music.

I grew up running like a little hang here,

little engine building music, little outlaw country.

Good time. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

I can see that. I can see that.

Let me let me kind of wind this up on this again.

A question we asked quite a bit.

I think it digs a little deeper into the personality of our guests.

If they were making them, which is funny,

because we asked this question knowing full well

what the answer would be to one in particular person.

And I'm sure you will know them as soon as I ask this question.

But if they were making a movie about your life,

what would the title be?

Who would play you and and what would it be about?

Would it be a comedy? Would it be a dramedy?

Would it be what kind of movie would it be?

I would hope it would be a comedy.

And in essence, just, you know,

joy is the right way to go about through life.

But I know that's a really good question.

What would it be called?

I would say just somebody that's just insanely happy

that likes to likes to make runs and be his best and and help people.

And gee, I don't know who would play me.

I don't know who has a head the size of mine

or who would even remotely look as funny as I do.

But I'd have to really think about that.

I don't even know what I'd call it.

I'd just say parts geek racer.

You know, that's just me.

OK, all right. Well, that's all right.

That's all right.

If you say Brad Pitt would play me,

I would say you'd have to dig a little deeper.

And I'm not real sure.

We all have to ask my wife that one.

That's a good one. OK. All right.

So what is it that you're looking forward to coming up?

You know, obviously we're we're knee deep into the season.

What's next for you?

What's what's coming up that you're looking forward to?

And is there anything on the horizon

beyond that that, you know, maybe you can share with us?

Well, we're getting ready to go to the Brainerd and Indie Swing.

That's a good time.

Pro stock is huge in those races

that region has a ton of pro stock fans

really just trying to get better.

We got this new Haas car that we're running

and I've just struggled a little bit on the tree with it.

Just get used to the way I sit in this car, the way

I feel when I hit the trees a little bit different.

So it's just a process

that learning what I need to be my best.

And I'm just excited to continue that.

And I'm going to do some high dollar bracket racing

probably through the winter months.

Likely going to build a new dragster with folk race cars.

We've got my current dragster.

It's a Miller car for sale.

So just really looking forward to life in general.

The kids are getting older and they're they're learning every day

and they're tugging at my fan like saying,

hey, come on, let's go racing.

Like, I'm in. Let's go.

Yeah. No, are you on the page of,

hey, you know what, when they're old enough,

let's put them in a car.

I won't push them if they want to.

If I rear Troy three wants to,

I'll support them.

I'd like them to go to a school

like, you know, may go down to look.

Bagaki has, I think he has an on site school that he'll do

X amount of times a year.

I would like them to start learning from someone else

so they can learn to respect others

and within the sport as well and their equipment

if we're using their equipment.

So that was a big lesson.

My father taught me was you need to respect your cars,

respect your guys and love your team.

And it's about team.

And when you learn those things

and you're just overwhelmed with gratitude,

you're going to be distracted from all those things

that can distract you in a negative way with your performance.

So that's kind of what my vision is for my kids.

If they want to do it, I'm all in.

But let's start here with Luke or Holly, Frank Holly.

Awesome school.

He has so many good points on vision and in racing.

It's almost a must to hit that as well.

So yeah, absolutely.

Yes, you know, we we know Frank well, so he does a great job.

Obviously, nobody gets here alone,

whether you're in the driver's seat or part of the crew

or the person chasing after the coffee.

You know, it is a it is a full team.

Is there is there anyone you need to give a shout out to

or want to thank any sponsors, anyone at all

that helps you get to where you are?

Well, you know, my car chief, Kyle Bates,

he does a fantastic job with the engines.

Kelly Murphy is on the clutch.

His passion and his his game for racing is

is just unstoppable.

It's very contagious.

Stevo, he's my engine guy.

He does an awesome job.

He's always on point and love racing with him.

Alex Laney, he's my back half guys doing the trans

and the rear tires and everybody's just team yellow.

We're always called team yellow.

And it's just a it's a really tight knit group.

It's a it's a family within the elite family,

which is an even bigger family, which is even.

Gosh, there's so many people.

Tim Freeman, my actual crew chief, Jamie Yates,

who assists Tim Chase Freeman runs the operation

as far as the cars go at elite motorsports, Mark Engersall.

Eric Anders, she's been huge at working with me.

Courtney Anders, she does a lot of my social media stuff

because I'm not very good at it because I'm usually on the shy side.

So I'm a little quieter.

She brightened it up a little bit.

My wife, Brenna, my kids, Troy three trip and Aubrey

just deal with me being gone half the time

is has to be a lot, especially on my wife, because Aubrey,

her personality is the size of Texas.

There's always something going on.

So it's fun and trips like me shy, kind of calm,

just wants to make some noise and race.

And and my dad, my grandfather, Jake, senior, uncle, Jai.

Uncle Mike, I mean, everybody,

I'm just so lucky to have so many people to thank.

And the entire group here at Jags.com,

I mean, I should get my desk,

but get the car some time out to say some great things

with wonderful people.

So I'm I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out.

I've had some great folks while our cars over the years,

White Castle, Melling, J.H.G.

C.Tech cabinets.

It's just people, people make it possible.

And when you're a part of that elite motorsports family

with Richard Freeman, it's really cool.

And it's a lot of fun.

It's contagious.

You have to come to the ropes and meet all of our different

personalities on our team because there's there's nothing like it,

especially in drag racing.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

100 percent agree with that.

First of all, I want to thank you so much for joining us.

It's certainly been a lot of fun.

It was not unexpected.

It was much, much like I envisioned it was going to be.

You mentioned some really wonderful people,

many of which have actually been on our shows,

and we're going to give a quick shout out to them.

And I have to apologize again to John Force,

who has not yet made it to our show.

But each time we talk about the the Mount Rushmore,

I bring up that story because everybody tells me

that's the way I'm going to get them.

So but I needed to bring that up.

But we really do appreciate you taking the time to join us.

It's truly been a pleasure.

And we're looking forward to seeing, you know, more great things from you.

We are based down here in Florida.

So we get to the Florida things quite often.

So we we can certainly find Team Yellow without any problem.

So we'll be looking out for that.

And yeah, I certainly wish you the best and and everything going forward.

Well, it's been an honor to be on the show,

especially with such great characters that you've had prior to me.

So definitely an honor.

Thank you. And we hope to see you in Florida soon.

Absolutely. All right, Troy, we will see you again real soon.

See you.

Thanks for riding along with us.

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