Alex Laughlin
ton of people from a small-tire scene who watch
me now. It’s just incredible. I’m having so much
fun in the radial car.”
Laughlin first made the decision to go radial
racing just a year prior, intrigued by the follow-
ing and buzz the class has created, and certainly
the challenge. What he found was a world full
of spectacular drivers, dedicated and rabid fans,
and perhaps most importantly, at least when it
comes to his success, Taylor and Parsley. Taylor
has carved out a legendary name in the outlaw
ranks, winning championships in places like the
ADRL and putting together awe-inspiring runs in
the 3.40s in Pro Extreme. His “Mad Man” persona
has a celebrated, beloved presence in the sport,
and Laughlin deemed it the perfect way to jump
in headfirst in the wild and unpredictable world
of Radial vs. the World racing.
As it’s turned out, the yin and yang personali-
ties of Taylor and Laughlin, a pair of Texas natives,
have meshed perfectly, while Parsley provides
the perfect balance in the middle. “These are the
baddest dudes, period,” Laughlin says. “They are
the perfect duo. Frankie is the ‘Mad Man’ and
wild and crazy, and he is intense when it’s time to
race. But Jeremy is the one that kind of keeps him
corralled and keeps him together. Between the
two of them, that’s what creates so much success
within our group of three.”
Meanwhile, Taylor is sure to keep things loose
during downtime, leaving Laughlin with plenty
of energy to stay focused when it counts. “From
twist the knife.
First there was the “To the haters that have
been bashing me lately, bless you, this one’s for
you. Holeshot win in the final. Howbowdat?” to
finish off his Facebook post from the victory. Then,
there was a definitive body blow when Laughlin
added “None of the Street Outlaw guys could
ever run 3.65 unless they were in a shopping
cart tied to my bumper” in another post that got
everyone riled up. He finished off the last of them
with knockout punch in the form of the stack
of money he held in his hands in the winner’s
circle at SGMP.
Alex Laughlin 1, Haters 0. Game over.
“More than anything you want to prove those
people wrong,” Laughlin says. “They can all stand
out there and say what they want to say, but at
the end of the day, after we won the race they
were nowhere to be found. I went from having
hundreds and hundreds of negative comments
to literally zero. There was nothing left.”
It was a nice touch to the squeaky-clean im-
age Laughlin has worked hard to craft over the
years. It’s wholesome without seeming generic
and it’s authentic without being transparent, but
Laughlin has also found new levels to his image.
Pushing just the right buttons on the so-called
“haters” without stooping to their level was the
ultimate icing on the cake to the weekend, and
Laughlin was sure to revel in it at their expense.
“I poked sometimes, you know, but that’s
what keeps it going and it’s good for everything,”
bring out the worst in people.
Laughlin has felt the brunt of that too many
times to count, but never once did it get the best
of him. By the time the emotions spilled out in
Valdosta, Laughlin felt impervious to insults that
had nothing left behind them. It felt like a barrier
had been broken and no harsh comment was
about to irritate Laughlin again.
“For a long time it did bother me,” Laughlin
admits. “People would say something, and I would
be like, ‘Why would they say this?’ They don’t
know me. They literally have nothing to generate
this type of opinion, but it’s just human nature
to be offended. And it used to get under my skin,
but just like anything else you just build up a
tolerance and you finally become desensitized
to it. I’m just not going to let them get me down.
“All those people talking about how we couldn’t
do it, when it came down to it, it was just awe-
some to be able to say, ‘All of you said we couldn’t
and we did. This one’s for you.’”
HECTIC – BUT WITH A PURPOSE
Laughlin takes a minute to calculate the number in
his head, growing more disgusted as the days
added up. “I was just thinking it’s been about
three weeks since I’ve even made it to the gym
at all,” Laughlin says.
There’s a busy life and then there’s the life
“I really like the acceleration factor,” Laughlin explains. “I’m
literally slammed back in my seat. In the Pro Mod there’s times I
can barely hold my head forward off the headrest behind me.”
being at the track to going to dinner that night
or whatever the case may be, like my muscles in
my face, from smiling and laughing so much, get
the ultimate workout on the weekends because
we literally have the best time,” Laughlin says.
LAUGHLIN’S LAST LAUGH
The February weekend was an ultimate span of every-
thing coming together perfectly when it mattered
most. It also meant Laughlin got to needle every
person on social media who had let loose with
countless jabs over the years.
He finally had the ultimate retort for which
there was no comeback – a Radial vs. the World
victory against their heroes like Stevie “Fast,” Tim
Slavens, Mark Micke, Woodruff and a host of
others. It was certainly greater and more impres-
sive than anything a driver from Street Outlaws
had accomplished and Laughlin wasn’t afraid to
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Laughlin believes. “I mentioned how the Street
Outlaw guys couldn’t run 3.65 unless they were
sitting in a shopping cart tied to my bumper and, I
mean, it blew up the internet. People were mad, a
lot of people were pissed off and it created a storm.
“But at the end of the day, man, I’m doing ex-
actly what I want to do. I feel so lucky to be able
to be doing it that I’m certainly not going to let
somebody get me down.”
Laughlin admits it took time to get to that
point. After losing on a holeshot to Street Out-
laws star “Big Chief ” Justin Shearer during the
Mega Race in 2017, Laughlin fell in the Mega
Race rematch to Ryan Martin a year later.
Both situations had Laughlin in less-than-ideal
vehicles in the showdowns, but that didn’t matter.
He had lost to the new stars in the sport and he
felt the wrath of their fans. The fanbase in motor-
sports is one of the most unique around. Passion
runs deeper than almost any other sport, with
fans feeling a strong connection to their heroes.
With the advent of social media, that can often
Laughlin leads. He makes a blur look like slow
motion, having already raced four NHRA Pro
Stock events, where he sits second in points with a
runner-up finish, a pair of Pro Mod races and two
drag radial events through mid-April. That also
doesn’t count the go-kart race he won in Daytona,
an annual event that’s become a Laughlin tradi-
tion. He’s raced four different classes in recent
years when you throw in Top Alcohol Dragster,
and there are plans for a no-prep debut at some
point in 2019 as his racing schedule approaches
40 events this year.
That doesn’t include the countless hours on
the phone prospecting new sponsors and keep-
ing current ones happy, making appearances
and whatever else required to run a multi-car
operation on his own. But not, apparently, trips
to the gym. “There’s no doubt I’m never bored,”
Laughlin says. “I’ve always got more to do than I
can finish, and the list goes on and on, but when
it comes down to it, I’m just glad I’ve got the list.”
The list looked far different growing up, but
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