Alex Laughlin added another milestone moment to his doorslammer drag racing career last Sunday evening when he turned on the final-round win light at the inaugural Drag Illustrated World Doorslammer Nationals at Orlando Speed World Dragway and took home a check for $50,000.
Driving the ATI Performance Products‘ backed Caruso Family Pro Mod Camaro, Laughlin qualified No. 3 with a 5.66 at 251.77, and went on to defeat Todd “King Tut” Tutterow in the final round, with a 5.671-second pass at 251.53 mph.
“The Carusos have some of the nicest equipment money can buy in the class. Props to them, props to crew chief Lee White. We just won the first-ever World Doorslammer Nationals and it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Laughlin said.
Gary Rowe photo
Meanwhile, Chris Rini started off his 2020 race season with a win at the Carolina Xtreme Pro Mod race at Darlington Dragway running an ATI Transmission, Outlaw Converter®, Super Fsynthetic ATF, Super Plate and Super Damper. Despite a rain-shortened test session, Rini was able to get the car dialed in and qualified No. 1 with a conservative 3.732 at 198.70 and took best ET of the event with a 3.672 at 204.86.
“We made it to the finals with a little bit of luck recovering from tire shake better than our competitor,” Rini said. “For the finals we took power out of it and played the safe card to get the car down a 62-degree racetrack and it worked to our advantage. Considering the lack of ideal conditions we ended up qualifying No. 1 and winning the race. This success is due to my whole team and all the sponsors that support me.”
This story was originally published on March 13, 2020. 
