Despite the searing-hot temperatures, extreme fatigue and rollercoaster ride of emotions involved in his sport, 2004 Flagler College alumnus Scott Lagasse, Jr. loves to race.

He loves the competition, the cars, the challenge of keeping calm and cool at 180 miles per hour. But most of all, Lagasse loves to win. That’s exactly what he plans to do in this racing season.

“I made my goal simple,” he said. “To go to the top, to win the Nextel Cup championships. It’s unpredictable, but it’s attainable.”

Race fans might start noticing Lagasse more as the alum continues running for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, one of the top teams in American racing. They plan to race Lagasse in a number of ARCA and NASCAR Busch Series races throughout the year.

Lagasse says he’s confident his hard work will soon start paying off. He’s already won a race this season — an ARCA Re/Max Series held April 27 in Kansas — and he came in fourth at the Buckle Up Kentucky 150 in May, and fifth place in the ARCA 200 at Daytona International Speedway in February.

Before the Daytona race, Flagler held a pep rally on campus for Lagasse where he announced he would use race winnings to set up a scholarship at the college.

To get a taste of the real racing experience, Flagler Magazine asked Lagasse a few questions about training, sweating, winning and losing:

FM: WHAT’S IT LIKE INSIDE A CAR MOVING AT 180 MILES PER HOUR?
LAGASSE: The thing a lot of people underestimate is how well conditioned a lot of drivers are for this particular sport. There are a lot of drivers that couldn’t run up and down a basketball court twice, but I could promise you a basketball player couldn’t go around this lap twice.

Your neck gets tired. There’s body fatigue from vibration and g-forces [acting on the body.] It gets to be 120 degrees. They get really hot inside – hot enough that you’ll occasionally burn a part of your body if you lose a piece of heat material.

FM: HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A RACE?
LAGASSE: It’s really no different than any athlete’s training. There’s a lot of physical training. That’s really kind of the easiest part. Ganassi has a gym. So I work out four or five days a week.

Beyond that, I’ve got go-carts, and I try to run as often as possible for what I call “eye strength.” It’s really easy when things start going fast for your eyes and your mind to get behind.

Everything feels really fast [on the race track]. We’re so close and there are so many situations you have to be aware of and be prepared for. And obviously, you can’t run 180 miles down the interstate every day [to practice].

FM: WHAT IS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU’RE BEHIND THE WHEEL?
LAGASSE: When you climb in the seat, the rest of the worlddisappears. It’s strange. I don’t know if it’s me or if some other drivers [feel that, too]. As soon as you climb in the car, you just completely forget about everything because it takes that much.

At the same time, you’re sizing up everyone else …

You’re in the car for a minimum of two hours and sometimes three and four hours, so it’s hard to stay focused. You hope you’re prepared for it, but it plain out comes down to your mental willpower.

FM: HOW DO YOU STAY FOCUSED IN A RACE THAT LONG?
LAGASSE: I’m actually pretty relaxed. I’m comfortable in there because that’s where I want to be.

I’m a very competitive person, probably more so with myself than anything. And it’s the type of sport where you just constantly, constantly have to push yourself mentally to keep going.

FM: WHY PUT YOURSELF THROUGH ALL THAT STRESS AND FATIGUE? IS IT WORTH IT?
LAGASSE: It’s a very humbling sport, but it is also very rewarding. A lot of people refer to it as a rollercoaster ride of emotions because … you go from winning to wrecking.

The first time I ever won a big race was actually the first one I ever ran. That’s unheard of in this sport. All I can tell you is afterward, I couldn’t even stop the car because my legs were shaking so bad.

You name an emotion, and I’m sure I’ve had it after a race — the highest highs and the lowest lows. That’s part of the struggle: to flatten those curves out.

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