Troy Coughlin Jr. was ready to dive into the mosh pit last November at Pomona when Doug Kalitta beat J.R. Todd in the Top Fuel final.

But the Kalitta Motorsports team had dialed back its outrageous pig-pile celebration because, in Vice-President Jim Oberhofer’s words, “to have a mosh pit when you beat your teammate is not as cool.” So Coughlin missed his first chance to immerse himself publicly in the corporate culture.

In private, though, the new driver of the SealMaster Dragster has been all-in, for the corporate culture at Connie Kalitta’s Ypsilanti, Michigan-headquartered drag racing operation is winning. And Coughlin, who is used to winning and is a third-generation representative of a family that’s used to succeeding, is ready to add to the totals for both families.

After three half-track spurts in the Mac Tools Dragster during an October test session following the Las Vegas race, he has transitioned from the “Oh boy – this is exciting” stage of his pro career to the “I want to dominate in Top Fuel” level. He has spent hours this winter practicing on a Christmas Tree simulator that Morgan Lucas’ crew built.

“I’ve been practicing routines and thinking about it and those runs I made in Doug’s car, replaying them in my mind it seems like 100 times a day. But it gives me a chance to think about my zones of focus and where I’m going to do what, trying to be as calm as I can be.”

Grandfather Jeg Coughlin Sr. can vouch for his eldest grandson’s skills at the Christmas Tree. “The one thing T.J. has really done well in the last eight years of racing, maybe longer, is he has a great reaction time. If you look at his average over the years … he was No. 1 in the Pro Mod program for that year. So that’s outstanding,” he said.

Surprisingly, the 26-year-old Coughlin said, driving a race car is not intuitive for him.

“I have to think about it and work at it. Nothing really comes natural to me. I have to work at it, peck at it a little bit,” he said.

Immediately he flipped that into a positive: “It’s definitely an advantage. My Uncle Jeg’s a complete natural. He’s a hop-in-and-go type of guy. I’m a guy who has to study it, learn it, watch it, study it, hear it, learn it, watch it – because I like it. I’m in love with it. I like to study the in-car cameras and just look at results and get averages, look back through last year at Connie’s and J.R.’s dragster, just seeing how many runs they made and where they smoked the tires, where they made good runs, and reaction times in eliminations … just looking at it, just seeing where I need to be and where I want to be, and setting some goals.”

Coughlin has some goals, all right.

“I’d like to win a national event in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock,” he said. “It’d be a big goal. I’ve already told Jim O. that I’d get a Funny Car license whenever they needed. He just kind of chuckled at this point. I think that would be a neat thing. But we’re a long ways before we could even call that playable.”

That’s true, considering an entire year soon will have gone by since he made his first full passes in a Top Fuel car. He earned his license in the Shawn Langdon dragster from Don Schumacher Racing at the Nitro Spring Training near Phoenix last February. He’ll get to go the complete 1,000-foot course at the Feb. 2-4 warm-up for the Winternationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park at Chandler, Ariz.

Although he said his five-time Pro Stock champion uncle’s advice is a significant factor in his winning the U.S. Nationals twice (in Super Comp and Super Gas) as a young high-school graduate, he didn’t gravitate to the Pro Stock class.

“I haven’t really had the chance. It was always so hard to get into. All I had raced was sportsman, and any time I had talked about wanting to go run Pro Stock, nobody knew how we were going to do that. It was so expensive and we’ve already got a lot wrapped in it,” Coughlin said. “Then Dad [Troy Sr.] had that second Pro Mod car built, and he asked if I wanted to drive it. So I drove that. And I think that kind of opened the gate a little bit. But I will likely be in a Pro Stock car before I retire.”

However, “First things first” is his guideline today. And he knows learning the subtleties of mastering a 10,000-horsepower, nitromethane-powered, 300-inch-wheelbase race car is priority No. 1.

“I’ve been picking a little bit off of everybody. Doug, I haven’t had much time to sit down with him. J.R. has had some good advice. Shawn Langdon really helped me in his car with what I’m feeling. And Larry Dixon has answered a lot of questions for me. And Del Worsham – he’s the one who got me started started from day one. He’s the one I’ve probably worked with the most. That’s awesome. He was my favorite driver from when I was five or six on,” Coughlin said. “Del has got more talent than anyone I know in those things. He’s a great example, that’s for sure. J.R. is really talented. That dude, he literally can drive anything. The way he drives everything’s amazing.”

Those who know the personable, fun-loving Coughlin might be surprised to discover that he becomes a laser-focused, teeth-gritting fighter when his helmet visor goes down.

“It’s hard to describe. You turn into someone who’s ultra-controlled, energized in the most controlled manner. You’re fire on the inside but ice on the outside. That makes you difficult to read from the outside,” Coughlin said. “You’re definitely aggressive and 100 percent on offense, for sure.”

He has two other knowledgeable mentors in his own family: his grandfather, who competed in Top Fuel and 10 other classes in his own racing career, and dad Troy Coughlin Sr., who has finished either first or second in the Pro Modified standings for the past five consecutive seasons.

His grandpa – his “Pappy” – told him to be comfortable in the car.

From his father, the Top Fuel rookie learned if he isn’t comfortable it’s OK to shut off the engine.

“That’s pretty much how my dad trained me in the Pro Mod car: You’ve got control over your feet and your arms. You know where the line is. You’re going to learn how to get close to it without crossing it.  For now you’re just going to learn in a safe mode and eventually you get better and better at it,” Troy Coughlin Jr. said.

He really hasn’t lost any of his boyish enthusiasm.

“I’m excited. I can’t wait just to hit the tree, just to see what we can do, reaction-time-wise, and get better at that angle, because that’s free E.T.,” he said. “That’s what I’m intrigued by the most, the reaction time. You’ve got to be on your toes.”

His opponents will be on their toes with Coughlin in the other lane. They know the Jr. Dragster graduate also is a Top Dragster alum, as well as a three-time NHRA divisional champion, and an accomplished E.T. bracket racer with four high-dollar race victories to his credit. Moreover, Coughlin Jr. was a three-time semifinalist and ninth-place finisher in his lone Pro Modified season (2015) that brought the association’s Rookie of the Year award.

So he brings an impressive portfolio to the Top Fuel category.

“I think that’s going to work out really well,” Jeg Coughlin Sr. said of Troy Jr.’s new endeavor.

“I’ve known Connie forever. I’ve known him since the ‘60s and ‘70s and flew a lot with him to different races because he’s in Michigan and we were in Ohio – and raced against him. I like Connie. I think Connie’s a really neat person. And I think Troy Jr. is a really neat person. And I think the two of them will have a really good match,” the Coughlin family patriarch said. “I think Connie is a mentor for the whole team, and I think Troy Jr. will fit into that. It’ll be successful, and it’ll be fun. Troy Jr.’s just amazing. I enjoy him a lot. He and I have a lot of conversations about business, racing, a whole mix of things – he and I play golf together. I think he’ll do an excellent job in Top Fuel.”

Said Troy Jr. of his grandfather, “It’s awesome to see how excited he is. He’s going to come to more races this year, because I think the nitro bug has caught him again.”

It has intrigued dad Troy Sr., too.

“They’re fast cars. They’re the kings of the sport. We’ve talked numerous times on the differences between Pro Modified and Top Fuel,” he said. “One of these days I’ll get to make a lap in one of those things. [T.J.] says it’s exciting and it accelerates pretty hard. I’ve always liked Top Fuel and Funny Car. I like all the classes, but it makes it that much more fun to go watch because you’ve got somebody to cheer for.”

If the pattern repeats, the Coughlin clan will have plenty to cheer about this year when the dragsters run.