■ ALEX LAUGHLIN
ALEX LAUGHLIN
GOES THE DISTANCE
■
ALEX LAUGHLIN knew he had a car ca-
pable of winning Lights Out 10 in Radial
vs. the World. When it counted, the jack-of-all-
trades driver proved up to the task and deliv-
ered a holeshot win in the final round against
Daniel Pharris.
Laughlin had an incredible .004 reaction time
to go along with a 3.694 at 205.60 mph in his
screw-blown Corvette to hold off Pharris’ .015
reaction time and run of 3.6909 at 211.13 to claim
the $50,000 RvW title and earn arguable the
biggest win of his career.
“I left a Pro Stock race and came to Pro Stock
race. It came down to that .004 to a .015 on the
tree,” Laughlin says. “It was just an unbelievable
weekend and the car was just running great the
whole time. I have to give so much props to (crew
chief ) Frankie Taylor and Jeremy Parsley for this.
They kept the car running good. These are the
baddest dudes, period.”
Laughlin traveled from the NHRA opener in
Pomona on the Monday of Lights Out and ar-
rived just in time for the first qualifying session,
going a strong 3.698 at 195.42 right off the trailer.
That quickly showed Laughlin and the rest of
the massive field that the car was going to be a
contender and it played out perfectly.
He qualified fourth with a strong 3.652 at
207.11 and then went to work over five rounds
of eliminations. He beat Tim Kincaid with a
3.692 at 200.77 in the first round and followed
with a 3.723 at 200.80 to knock off Mike Decker
III. From there, Laughlin was nearly robot-
ic on the tree over the final three rounds. He
was .020 with a 3.669 at 199.64 to beat Mark
Woodruff ’s 3.683, topping it with a .019 to beat
a red-lighting Kevin Rivenbark before slipping
past Pharris in a thrilling side-by-side duel in
the final round.
“Here’s the deal,” starts Donald “Duck” Long.
“This man did his job on the tree. Between
Frankie and Alex, you better be on top of your
game if you want to run with them. Alex is just
a phenomenal driver. All I wanted to see was
door-to-door out the back, and that was the most
exciting thing for me. That’s what we like about
Radial vs. the World.”
Laughlin knew he had to be spectacular when
it counted and he delivered against the quick-
est 32-car qualifying field in RvW history. He
jumped into radial racing with both feet, but
it’s proven to be a great decision. Laughlin has
enjoyed every minute of his trip into radial racing
that started a year ago, whether it’s conversing
with Long, working with Taylor or taking in the
overflow crowds, and now he can stand proud
in winning the prestigious Lights Out event.
“I just love this race,” Laughlin says. “The
stands are packed. At 8 a.m., the stands were
packed (on Saturday). It’s been an absolute trip
(working with Taylor) and all of it has just been
great.” – JOSH HACHAT
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
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106 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 143