Alex Laughlin Records Unofficial Factory X Record 6.86

When Factory X pioneer Geoff Turk and his veteran driver, Alex Laughlin, departed the NHRA national event tour following the U.S. Nationals in September, they vowed to take their BlackbirdX Dodge Challenger Drag Pak and prove the combination’s performance capabilities. In the first true outing since doing so, that mission has already been accomplished — with Turk insistent there’s much more to come.

Laughlin, a seasoned Pro Stock star in his first year behind the wheel of Turk’s Drag Pak, reeled off a series of 6-second runs at nearly 200 mph while making exhibition runs at the Modern Street HEMI Shootout series event at Maryland International Raceway over the weekend. The series was headlined by a 6.865, 196.24 mph unofficial Factory X record run.

Turk’s initial intent was to deviate from NHRA rules and run a smaller, more potent supercharger pulley to unearth more of the true potential of these cars. A recent rule change, however, brought the BlackbirdX back into legality, as his 3.25-inch pulley is in fact larger than the now-allowable 3.125-inch variant. The pair ran the car a purported 50-pounds overweight, and on both 13.5-inch tires (on which they recorded a 6.87 in -500-foot D.A. air) and the. NHRA-legal 10.5W (powering them to the 6.86 in 1,200 feet D.A.).

“We were playing with some changes, but for the most part our objective for this event was A-to-B passes in the sixes and over 200 and put on a show for the Mopar faithful ,” Turk explains. “We didn’t want to hurt things, but we are learning. With the NHRA rule change to now allow blower housing porting and the smaller pulley, our car is actually way legal, and with the weight above minimum, it would be quicker in NHRA trim. If we sorted it out and leaned on it, it would definitely have gone 6.70s, maybe 6.60s, in that great air and on that very good track.”

Laughlin made six passes to the finish line, five of them in the sixes.

Last October, BlackbirdX recorded the first official 200 mph pass and the first known — albeit unofficial — 6-second run by a Factory X car.