CONCORD, N.C. — Max McLaughlin has driven a lot of different types of race cars during his racing career, but his transition to dirt late models is like nothing he’s ever experienced.
McLaughlin has raced everything from outlaw karts to NASCAR Xfinity Series cars, DIRTcar modifieds and sprint cars, but he is embarking on his first season of late model action driving for Team 22Inc Motorsports on the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series tour.
The 23-year-old North Carolina native ran his first late model races last month at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.
“It has been a different world,” McLaughlin said. “I would have liked to have raced a late model once or twice before going to Volusia for a World of Outlaws race, but that is kind of the story of my career, I have always kind of just been thrown to the wolves which is cool. I take the opportunities as they come.
“It is so much different than what I am used to. I am not used to driving into the corner on throttle and on the bars,” he explained. “It has been an unreal experience. It is probably the most difficult transition that I have had to do. It was a lot easier to jump right in a sprint car than it is a late model. These things are their own animal, so it is definitely going to take a lot of time to figure it out.”
McLaughlin said driving a late model is very different from wheeling the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds he’s raced in recent seasons.
“What I do best is driving the car straight,” he said. “What is killing me the most right now is getting in the corner because I am not used to bending the car sideways. That is the biggest thing I need to break the habit of is driving the car straight like we do the big blocks and the sprint cars. We don’t turn the wheel at all.
“All the steering, we had to change it on the car because the steering was too slow for me and we had to speed it up to try to get it to where I am more comfortable.”
Still, the second-generation racer cherishes the opportunity to tackle late model racing.
“To me this is the Cup Series of dirt,” he said. “I’ve run everything but late models, but late models is what I wanted to do as a kid. I grew up right up here in Charlotte and went to the World Finals as a kid watching Josh Richards and the Rocket 1 car. That is what I have wanted to do, but I grew up in the open-wheel stuff.
“I’m looking forward to it. It is kind of where I have wanted to be all year. I am looking forward to the struggle of it and I am looking forward to getting better.”
McLaughlin simply wants to learn and improve from one race to the next.
“These guys are the best in the sport and the best guys struggle a lot. It is such a competitive series,” he explained. “The best guys try to get a little better and I am at the bottom of the totem pole. I am going to try to take the biggest leap of anyone this year and try to get better every time out.
“I have the least experience in the field for sure and as long as I get better every race, by the end of the year we will be up front contending with some of these guys.”