Drag Illustrated Issue 112, August 2016 | Page 40

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. DI DI DI DI DI DI DI 40 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com DI DI DI Issue 112 PHOTOS: NATE VAN WAGNEN, CHRIS SEARS Laughlin’s a Driver