Pruett, Coughlin, And LVMS Going Pink For Breast Cancer Awareness

With October being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, athletes from around the sports world are always eager to support this great cause. The NHRA is no exception. It started at Maple Grove Raceway at the beginning of the month when Antron Brown, Terry McMillen, Courtney Force, Dom Lagana and Eddie Krawiec proudly changed the primary schemes of their racing machines to raise awareness of this disease. Many other teams showed their support in different ways, from pink ribbons to pink parachutes.

For the upcoming Big O Tires NHRA Nationals which runs from Oct. 26-28, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, you can add Jeg Coughlin Jr, Leah Pruett, and the race track itself as supporters. Fans will notice the starting line area of the Bruton Smith-owned facility is not painted with the standard yellow color seen during national events. Instead, the color pink was chosen for this race to support Breast Cancer Awareness.

 In a combined effort of support, Jeg will be wearing specially designed pink Oakley racing gear and his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger will be adorned with pink ribbons and pink JEGS logos. His crew will also be sporting special pink Oakley sunglasses.

“Like all of us, cancer has affected us either directly or indirectly and Jeg Jr. reached out to us about doing something at the NHRA event in Las Vegas to help raise the awareness level within the NHRA community,” said Oakley’s Sheldon O’Connell. “We thought it was a great idea so in collaboration with JEGS Racing, we created a pink Factory Pilot firesuit for Jeg as well as boots and gloves to salute Breast Cancer Awareness Month.” “Raising awareness and contributions for the fight against cancer is something we’ve been doing for years through the JEGS Foundation: Racing for Cancer Research,” Coughlin said. “To branch out and help Oakley with this specific Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiative is an easy step for us.” 

Leah Pruett’s powerful R2B2 Racing turbo Pro Mod, nicknamed Mustang Sally, will be sporting two large pink racing stripes, a pair of ribbons and pink accents throughout the design. While there’s no question Leah loves the look of the car, it’s the reason behind the design that really hits home for her.

 “Two of my aunts have dealt with breast cancer; one survived and the other didn’t, so this is something that has really hit our family hard,” Pruett said. “My fiancé’s Godmother is Bunny Burkett and she’s a survivor as well. Plus, our team owner Roger Burgess recently lost a close friend, Mike Nelson, to stomach cancer at the age of 32. That’s why we’ll have the breast cancer ribbon and the stomach cancer ribbon on the car. The design is really pretty. I think that car looked great before but I might like this design even better. It’s really eye-catching and obviously it means so much to us to help raise awareness for cancer research.”