RPW Exclusive: Max McLaughlin Reflects On Year Without Full-Time Ride, New Intravenous Venture
Column By: MARTY CZEKALA / RPW – OHSWEKEN, ONT – On the eve of the return of the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars to Ohsweken Speedway, Max McLaughlin was back in a super late model for the first time in about six months.
“Mad Max” was testing the car for track owner Glenn Styres, who ran it in the undercard’s late model race. The tune-up happened to work, as the following night, Styres parked the car in victory lane.
“Dad [Mike] and I built this car for Glenn and we’ve had it for a while,” said McLaughlin, who was in attendance at Ohsweken Wednesday night. “He seemed pretty comfortable in it right away and then I took it out and felt really good. I’ve missed it like crazy. It bugs the heck out of me every day.”
2025 hasn’t been as planned for McLaughlin. Last November, plans were announced to run full-time with Niece Motorsports in a 50-race schedule and focus more on the prestigious races on the season than committing to a tour full-time.
But those plans went out the window when a sponsorship deal fell through.
With no races set for 2025 yet, McLaughlin has never been in this position in his racing career.
“It’s just expensive, especially at a high level that it takes to compete with the World of Outlaws,” McLaughlin explained. “All late models are over $150,000 now to have a good functioning top five car.”
McLaughlin hopes to still run a few races in 2025 with Niece. Despite the sponsorship deal not coming through, he confirmed “no hard feelings.”
“Somebody’s got to pay for it at the end of the day and I don’t have the money to do that,” said McLaughlin.
As much as McLaughlin would love to race either late models or even make a trip to New York to run a big block modified, one new title has come to McLaughlin’s name. Owner/Manager.
McLaughlin recently started an IV Me Now wellness clinic in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. This health care service offers intravenous therapy for hydration, energizing, recovering from hangovers and more.
“I saw a good market for it and went after it,” said McLaughlin. “It’s a cool business to be in. It’s in the early stages and it’s showing signs of doing great. I’ve been dedicated to it and working really hard at it.”
“We cater to more of the hangover market than anything,” McLaughlin said when asked about his products. “People don’t feel good when they go out and drink. But it’s just hydration. We offer a ton of different types of vitamins to cater to how you’re feeling. But I have some NFL guys, NBA guys and some higher-end athletes in the Charlotte area who use it religiously. It’s been fun to work for the athletes.”
Notable athletes that trust IV Me Now include NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin and Carolina Panthers star wide receiver Xavier Legette.
Even with the commitment to his new business, McLaughlin still watches every race of the Super DIRTcar Series and the World of Outlaws Late Models. Last year, McLaughlin ran at Super DIRT Week and showed no ring rust in the big block, finishing fourth in the 200-lap feature. Currently, McLaughlin has no plans to run at Oswego in October.
“I haven’t really discussed it with HBR,” said McLaughlin. “I see Amy Holland probably being in that car going forward and I respect that. Amy’s a great driver. They have a great program over there and as a team, they got to do what’s best for them and put somebody in it full-time. I hope they have a car that can compete and hopefully win Super DIRT Week.”
In the end, while McLaughlin is happy to return to the track to crew on Styres’ car, “Mad Max” wants to return to driving soon.
“It gets my fix of working on them,” McLaughlin said. “I just don’t get my fix of racing on them. Hopefully, we can find that position down the road and find somebody to come help us financially. We’ll just have to keep working hard and see what happens.
