Troy Coughlin Jr. thought he was in trouble.

He was at work at JEGS, the family automotive mail-order business in Delaware, Ohio, one day last September. And The Boss – his grandfather – called him into his office.

But Granddad – “Pappy” to the youngest generation of racers – had something besides sales on his mind. He encouraged 25-year-old T.J. to think about giving Top Fuel dragsters a whirl.

And Thursday afternoon at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park at Chandler, Ariz., about 1900 miles away from that office, Jeg Coughlin Sr. saw his grandson carry on the family’s Top Fuel tradition by earning his license in yet another category.

And with that, Dad Troy Sr. said, “Now, he’s the fastest Coughlin in the family.”

With guidance from crew chiefs Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara, Troy Coughlin Jr. earned his Top Fuel license in the Red Fuel/Sandvik Coromant Dragster that Shawn Langdon drives. Coughlin, who most recently competed in the J & A Service Pro Modified series on the NHRA tour, began in Jr. Dragster and has raced – and won – also in the Super Comp and Super Gas classes and excelled in E.T. bracket racing.

The journey wasn’t over, Coughlin said. “It’s just begun. There’s a lot of work to be done. We still have a lot of driver . . . errors I made today that I want to get better at. We’re just getting started.”

He found out why his grandpa figured he’d get a kick out of it.  

“It’s tight. It’s fast. You leave hard,” T.J. Coughlin said. “And the next thing you know, it’s like 100 feet and you’re in a slingshot. You though the initial launch was tough – you go another 100 feet and it’s a whole new story. “

He acknowledged that “there’s a big intimidation factor with something this fast” but said, “I think the more I go, the more those two will balance themselves out.”

Coughlin has watched videos of his grandfather’s runs in a Top Fuel dragster and said, “Sometimes I thought it would be really neat, because the class is full of history. And I’m really into the history of drag racing. It was definitely a neat time. The pioneers of the sport don’t get enough praise. They went through hell to make it good for us. The pioneers of this sport tried things that make things better today.”

Both Troy Coughlins, father and son, said they were unafraid because of their faith in Don Schumacher Racing’s commitment to safety.

“It’s a very safe feeling,” Troy Jr. said. “Those Don Schumacher Racing guys are the best in the business. They’re extremely tenacious in everything they do.”

Dad agreed. “I know with Don Schumacher Racing, their cars are the best quality pieces. The safety aspect is all there. And T.J.’s got a sense of what he’s learned from his family when to let off the gas.” He said given the family’s history it’s emotional to see a Top Fuel racer in the Coughlin mix again. However, he said with his son, “It was just a matter of time.”  

Team JEGS spokesman Scott “Woody” Woodruff said that within two days of his inquiry on behalf of the third-generation driver, Coughlin was at the Don Schumacher Racing shop at Brownsburg, Ind. – a three-hour drive from his Delaware, Ohio, home – having his custom seat poured. “T.J.’s very grateful for the opportunity,” Woodruff said, adding Coughlin has no set plans yet for putting a Top Fuel license to use.

“We’ll see how this goes,” he said. How it went was this: His first run was a 3.999-second blast at 229.98 mph. His second was his best of the day at 3.853, 321.81, and he clocked a 3.8-second E.T. also in his third pass (3.870, 289.14).

T.J. Coughlin said late Thursday he had no idea what the next step would be, because “it all happened on the spur of the moment.”

He said he hadn’t decided which two racers he would ask to sign his license. “I want to sleep on it,” he said, unsure whether he would ask Del Worsham or Shawn Langdon or Morgan Lucas.

He had made his initial runs in November at Bakersfield, Calif., in the dragster that Del Worsham and dad Chuck Worsham own, but cold weather intervened (along with his commitment to run in the Street Car Nationals) and kept him from completing his licensing process.