NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Alex Laughlin is less than 15 runs into his new career as a Funny Car driver, but he’s already run in the threes, qualified for a field, and, perhaps most importantly of all, he’s gotten a thumbs up from his team owner, the notoriously tough grader that is 60-year veteran “Big Jim” Dunn.

Laughlin — just the second driver in NHRA history to have competed in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock — qualified at the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on the strength of a 4.01 best and ran 3.99 at 320 mph in a first-round loss, but the entire team left Gainesville Raceway excited and relieved.

“I needed to get Gainesville behind me and run a three [seconds] and 300 [mph] because I hadn't done that yet in a Funny Car,” said Laughlin, who had run as quick as 3.75 and as fat as 324 mph over two seasons in Scott Palmer’s dragster. “I'd never made a full run before the first hit at Gainesville and I admit I was a little nervous to do that in front of a big crowd and on TV, so I feel much better now.”

Even Dunn, who, as mentioned, can be hard on his drivers, was pleased by his new protégé. 

“We’re learning together,’ said Dunn. “I think it'll take us about three races before we’re synced up. He's eager and wants to win, but he shuts off quickly when it shakes. He had very consistent reaction times [.109, .105, .101, and .100] and he said, 'That's not very good,' and I said, 'No. but you're consistent and that's what matters; we can make the car go quicker.

'He's also moving too slow getting the throttle down. He takes 1.4-second and it’s supposed to be .7[-second]. He's too slow getting the throttle all the way down. and if you’re slow it lets the counterweights get in control of the motor before it can zip up. You can’t ease into the throttle of a nitro car; you’ve got to slap it instead of pushing it. If he gets it down quicker. It'll go from .990 60-foot to an .890 and his reaction time will be better.”

Laughlin is driving a special-edition USD Parts flopper for Jim Dunn Racing this weekend.

Laughlin, who has competed in more than a dozen NHRA classes and has nine different licenses [because some overlap, i.e., a Top Fuel license allows you to drive an Alcohol Dragster), owns up to his early mistakes and is working hard to fix them.

“Driving a Funny Car is just different from any car I’ve driven, even the dragster, where your legs are straight out, so it's a little easier to hit the gas where this car it's like sitting in a chair,” he said. “I just have to figure out what's good for me. I've moved my foot a couple of times to see if it’s better with my foot up or better with my foot down low or better with my foot flat on the pedal or just my toes on the pedal. I'm just still trying to figure it out.”

And, of course, there’s the small matter of going 320 mph while looking through a pillbox-sized slit of a front windshield.

“The Pro Stocker was very smooth; this is it's a little more shaky, and you can certainly see much less than the dragster, where you've got that panoramic view,” he said. “You’ve got the small windshield and the pillars, and the [injector] hat that makes it so you can't see the racetrack that’s [directly] 200 feet in front of you. You can see the scoreboards down there and try to make a field goal and just keep in between the goalposts”

The Dunn car, like many, has a wheel counter that shuts the car off automatically at 950 feet for safety, and Laughlin is glad that his owner is so cautious.

“Driving on the highway at 70 mph, you see a sign and take your foot off the pedal -- we've all done that a million times. It's easy to do. At 300 and climbing, it's hard to anticipate, If you lift at the finish line, you're 200 feet further down the track before it shuts off. It's crazy. Absolutely insane.”

Speaking of insane, Laughlin has designs to someday ride a Pro Stock Motorcycle to be the first driver to license in all four Pro classes.

“I absolutely have to do it at some point, just to get my license and be able to add that other thing to the resumé," he said. "Whatever that minimum is to do it, I want to do that. It’s a little scary -- I picture me letting the clutch out and the thing squirts out from between my legs – but I think it would be fun. I've had a lot of people offer it -- probably five or six people are like, ‘Hey, when you're ready to let me know,’ so one day I’ll do it.

“You know, 10 years ago, I never would have thought that I'd even sit in the seat of a Pro Stocker right much less drive a Top Fueler and Funny Car. I've been very lucky.”