Dirt
By Sadie Floyd
A
lex Laughlin is one of the bright
new stars in the NHRA Pro Stock class.
Laughlin is a big part of the youth
movement in all the professional categories and in his third season in the class, he’s
in the top 10 in points fighting for his spot in the
Countdown to the Championship. On the outside
looking in is two-time Pro Stock Champion Erica
Enders and it’s going to be an all-out drag-out
battle she and Laughlin make their way to last
race of the regular season at the ‘Big Go’ in Indianapolis. When you combine Alex Laughlin’s
lovable personality and Gas Monkey Garage’s
backing – you have a combination that the rest
of the Pro Stock field, as well as the entire sport
of drag racing, should be paying attention to.
Why Pro Stock?
Every since I started drag racing, I was always
super intrigued by Pro Stock and how the cars
were limited to 500 cubic inch motors, the power
they were able to make naturally aspirated and
the technology that goes into doing it. When I
started drag racing back when I was 15 or 16, Pro
Stock was my favorite class. It’s a driver’s class, too,
and that challenge is something that I’ve always
enjoyed. It never gets old hearing that Pro Stock
cars are the hardest cars to drive. I think that’s
why I like it so much.
What do you say to the person that says Pro Stock
has a dying fan base?
Gosh, that’s really a tough question because
there are so many people that would love to do
this. It’s not that the class could die because no
one had interest in it, it’d be because it’s so hard
to get sponsorships these days. It’s hard to get
someone to write you a check to go race. I know
there are thousands of people in drag racing that
would give anything to just make one pass in a
Pro Stock car. Personally, I think our Gas Monkey
relationship helps with the fan base issue because
they have so many fans that weren’t necessarily drag racing fans – or at least not Pro Stock
fans – that have become interested in our class
because of it.
Have the fans been receptive to the Gas Monkey
sponsorship?
They’ve been extremely receptive. Everybody
has been awesome. The Gas Monkey following
is so big and there are so many people that come
by every weekend that just want to see the car.
We get a lot of people asking if Richard is there,
too; we get that question about three- or fourtimes a day.
How did that sponsorship come about?
The vinyl wrap that we have on the car – all
the decals and all our merchandise, actually – are
done by a place called
360 Wraps, which is
right up the road from
Gas Monkey Garage
in Dallas. I had gotten to know the 360
Wraps guys in 2010
– I’d had them do
some stuff for me on
my personal vehicles.
They started working closely with Gas
Monkey in the years
following, and I spent
a week and a half
with Aaron Kaufman
at Pike’s Peak. One
thing led to another
and when they came
out with their cinnamon tequila – they decided
to put that on our sportsman cars, which was my
dad’s Comp car and my Top Dragster. After a few
years, they decided it’d be cool to step up to a pro
category, and here we are.
How difficult is it to drive a Pro Stock car?
I’ve done a lot of different things and when I
got to Pro Stock, I thought, ‘Well, how difficult
can it be? How much harder could it possibly be?’
After going through the processes of licensing, I
found out there was a lot more to it than just
getting the car down the racetrack. There are
so many things that factor in to a perfect pass.
From doing a consistent burnout each time to
how much you use the clutch in the water box
and backing up, all of that matters in your run.
You want it to be smooth. As far as shifting, every
track is a little different depending on the air
and how fast the gears come together. With the
10,500 RPM rev-limiter now, that’s the biggest
thing. You can’t be early and you definitely can’t
be late. Once you hit the rev limiter, the weight
transfers to the back of the car where your rear
tires are planted to the front and once the car
falls over on it’s face, you pretty much missed
the run. It’s over.
Where do you think Pro Stock is headed?
It’s hard to say. Being so new to the class and
getting into the sport where it is now, I think a lot
of people have enjoyed the fuel injection stuff and
the flat hoods and a whole new learning curve. I
just hope a lot more people can start making it out
to race and as long as we have 16 cars, I think the
class will stick around. I like it more when there is
more than 16 because that means everyone has to
really do a good job because there’s a chance you
might not make the sh ow. It makes qualifying a
little more meaningful, to be honest.
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I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
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Issue 112
PHOTOS: NATE VAN WAGNEN, CHRIS SEARS
Laughlin’s a Driver