Taking on Daytona International Speedway in Shifter Karts With Alex Laughlin

Those who know Alex Laughlin likely know him best for his work behind the wheel of a car that goes in a straight line. If you name the format, there’s a good likelihood that Laughlin has done it at a high level when it comes to drag racing as he is hopped around and all sorts of NHRA classes and even dipped his toes in no prep action.

This time, though, Laughlin is ditching the straight-line action for a couple of turns. In order to do that, he heads out to the most iconic track to ever exist at Daytona International Speedway. However, he isn’t competing in some sort of stock car or even a full-sized car at all.

Instead, in this particular video, the drag racing pro takes on the track with the help of a go-kart. He’s not alone, though, as a variety of competition is out there to take on the superspeedway in something that’s not exactly super-sized.

Just because the cars aren’t super-sized, though, isn’t to say that the speed suffers. Instead, the tiny karts swing their way around the racing surface to the tune of 115 mph or so. It has to be quite a crazy feeling to take on the banking at that speed with such a small vehicle. It’s almost like the driver himself is being planted into turns with all of the force and none of the car.

Below, we get quite a unique point of view that takes Laughlin around the Daytona road course and gives us a fresh perspective. At the end of the day, this sort of racing is definitely a lot different than being planted into the seat of something blasting down a track at 200 mph. However, it is quite exhilarating to watch and we’re sure the feeling behind the wheel matches that and then some.