Alex Laughlin
AS THIS WHEELIE AT SWEET 16
2.0 SHOWED, THERE’S PLENTY
OF UNPREDICTABLITY IN RVW,
BUT LAUGHLIN HAS ENJOYED
EVERY MINUTE OF IT.
get in a Top Fuel car. Sure, I could kick all the
door car stuff to the side and maybe run close
to 10 races in a nitro car. But at the end of the
day, it’s like, ‘What for?’ I feel like I’ve made a
name in the door car stuff and that’s what I love
more than anything.”
He added Pro Mod to his list in 2019, mak-
ing his debut this year in an Elite Motorsports
turbocharged Camaro that was heavy on the
“pucker factor” when he first tested the doorslam-
mer monster.
But even as hectic as Laughlin’s racing sched-
ule is, it accounts for a very small percentage
of actually keeping this machine and dream
moving forward. He learned quickly about how
sponsorships work in this day and age, and that
meant coming to an immediate realization that
big-name companies weren’t going to knock on
his door simply because he raced in Pro Stock.
It has taken a different mindset, but Laughlin
has thrived there, relying on a B2B approach to
add partners and find funding. He’s been proac-
tive, seeking out big-name sponsors like Havo-
line, Advance Auto Parts, Hot Wheels Car Care,
Fitzgerald Truck Sales and others. Working with
commercial insurance giant Gallagher, which
had more than $6 billion in revenue, he is able
to connect Gallagher to sponsors. It creates a sig-
nificant windfall for Laughlin and opens the door
for opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be there.
But that means continuous phone calls for
Laughlin, a consistent and professional social
media presence, professional media marketing
decks and a willingness to start small and prove
there is ROI. Laughlin has had to step well out-
side his comfort zone – going as far as holding
a private sponsorship summit at the PRI show
– but he accepted the fact this was the only way
his dream was going to happen.
Now, the results speak for themselves and
Laughlin is proud of that, even while everything
remains a constant work in progress. “Literally
every single day I’m trying to put business deals
together,” Laughlin says. “I’m always maintaining
the relationships I already have and still hitting
up new people. But pretty much everybody I’ve
got sponsor-wise, I do have a good relationship
with and I’m very, very luck for that.”
Of course, there are days when Laughlin wishes
he was the hired gun in a nitro class and didn’t
have to worry about ordering crew shirts or hero
cards, or driving the truck and the trailer from
race to race. But what Laughlin does have is in-
dependence to choose where he wants to race
and in what class, aligning himself with sponsors
who allow him to be drag racing’s chameleon. It’s
a perfect fit all the way around and the results
speak for themselves.
“I’ve just been really lucky to be able to just
kind of fly by the seat of my pants. And if it’s
something I want to do, then I’m able to go and
do it,” Laughlin says. “I just have my own way
with things and I’m not even saying it’s right. You
know, it’s different and it’s just me. I just want to
be different because you have to be. If everybody
was doing the exact same thing, then, you know,
it’s just too generic.”
Almost two decades later, it’s not clear if any
of his junior high classmates still have the au-
tographed photo. Laughlin, though, has more
than held up his end of the bargain and maybe
one day those autographed pictures – already
rare by the sheer miniscule number of his
classmates in the tiny school – will fetch an
impressive price.
Then again, maybe they won’t, but that’s beside
the point. Laughlin has found a way to live his
dream, proving a path – no matter how uncon-
ventional – is always there.
But there is one final litmus test to see if Laugh-
lin is truly living his dream: Would eighth-grade
Alex Laughlin be in awe of 30-year-old Alex
Laughlin? The answer, without question, is a
resounding yes.
“For sure,” Laughlin agrees. “If the Alex in junior
high had the opportunity to stop by the shop
here, see the cars and everything else, it would
be a pretty cool deal for sure. This is it and, as
far as I’m concerned, I’m doing all the things
I’ve wanted.”
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84 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 144