Born and raised in England, Alex began racing karts at the age of nine.  His success in Europe was rewarded in 2004 when he tested with legendary Formula One racing team McLaren Mercedes. Later on Alex and his family moved to the U.S. to continue his career in racing.  Alex won the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights Championship. That same year Alex finished outside of the top five just three times and he won a total of eight races, including the first five of the season.  In 2010, Alex competed in his first full season in the IZOD IndyCar Series, finished fourth in the Indy 500 and won the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Award. Now Alex serves as Head of Content for Beepi.

I was able to chat with Alex about racing, fatherhood, and more.

Art Eddy: You started racing at a young age. What got you interested in racing?

Alex Lloyd: This is a weird one because most people that I race with it was dad. It was usually dad used to race, dad is into cars. In many cases it is father pushing their son into a life they wished they had. They can live their dreams through their child.

With me it never was. My dad liked cars. He would watch racing on TV now and again, but that was it. It was something that I was obsessed with. I used to push my dad to the local go kart place that we passed on the way to school every day. I asked if we could go there on Saturday. It became a Saturday tradition. The guys that work there were saying to my dad that I was pretty good. They asked him if he ever considered taking me outdoor go kart racing, and getting a car racing suit was perfect for this.77777

As a Christmas present I got a go kart and went there once a month. The next thing you know they were like maybe you should try competing for the national championship. It just took a life of its own. It was something that was brought on by me. I had a passion for cars. My family became into it too. We just got into it and tried to go up the ranks as best I could.

AE: In your racing career do you have a race or year that stands out most to you?

AL: Two things. First the year of 2007. That was my first full year of racing in America in the Indy Light Series, which is a step below Indy 500 racing. For me to get out to America, racing costs money. You don’t earn money until the very last stages where you make it as a pro. To get to that point my dad had to sell his house, remortgage it and get out all the equity that he could to fund this last ditch effort to make it as a professional racing driver.

In 2007 I won fifty percent of the races. Broke a bunch of records and won the championship. That was the catalyst that took me into Indy Car racing. For me that was probably the coolest year that I ever had. The pressure was on. I was on a really great team with a great car. Basically it was all down to me. I had to put up or shut up. That was a very special year. You don’t get that many years where you can dominate like that. That was cool.

There was one race in 2010 that was the Indy 500 which to me is the biggest race in the world. With a very small team with not that much resources we finished fourth in that race. That was a pretty special moment that high up at a race at that size. That team never finished in the top ten before. That was a big deal for us little guys. That was a cool moment in 2010.

AE: Take me into the driver’s seat. What is it like to compete in an Indy Car race?

llyodAL: Indianapolis is a great example because it so fast there. For those who watch NASCAR the cars there will go into the first turn at about 200 miles per hour. They will break to about 130 miles per hour mid corner. Then they will accelerate out. In Indy Car you take the first turn at 230 or 240 miles per hour and they hold it wide open. The lowest speed that you get to is about 225. So the cornering difference is huge. Depending on the track it could be a 70 to 100 miles per hour difference on cornering speed. Indy Cars have so much grip and down force. That is not what a stock car or NASCAR is all about.

Indy Car is all about ultimate speed. You are going into a corner like at Indianapolis at a 90 degree end. There is not that much banking. Everything in your body is saying that you need to hit the brakes. These cars produce so much down force that you could drive upside down in a tunnel. No matter how many times you have done it and I have gone through that track thousands of times, every time you are like alight hang on. The speed is intense. There is a lot going on. The G-Force is intense. You are hitting five G’s. So five times your body weight is pushing you to the side. The vision is hard. There is a lot of vibration. Things are moving very quickly. Everything happens so quickly in an open wheel racecar.

When you are driving you have grit on the tires to hang on the road. When you don’t have grit you hit the wall. When you hit the wall at 230 mile per hour believe me it sucks. It is a very intense feeling. Road course races which Indy Car does is very much a physical affair. Your body goes through a lot. There is no power steering. Huge G-Forces. Very high heart rate for the race. The ovals like the Indianapolis 500 is not particularly physical. The steering is heavy, but it isn’t that physical. It is just mentally draining because you have to hit these precise marks every lap at speeds that are terrifying. You got to stay calm and cool. You got to race with 33 other cars wheel to wheel. You touch wheels things go bad. Things start flying in the air. It is really, really intense.

AE: Switching to fatherhood now, what were some of the first few thoughts that popped into your mind when you found out that you were going to be a dad?

AL: It was a mixture of nervous happiness. I think I was 22 years old when we had our first child. It wasn’t planned. I was still trying to make it through the ranks as a driver. When people say if you could pick a time this probably wasn’t it. I was trying to figure out if I could make a career as a driver. I didn’t have a real paying career at that point. I just had the prospect of one. If you put all of that into perspective and say was that a good time to have a kid, you would say no. It was a terrible time.

I think so many dads will say this. There is never a good time, but when it comes it is always the best thing that ever has happened to you. You always realize that whatever you thought was a good time or a bad time to have a kid is not true. There is always stresses in life that come up, but you always find a way to figure it out. That was what happened to me. I was very young at the time. I am really happy that it happened that way because it is kind of cool to be a young dad. For me it has been the best thing that has every happened. There has been a lot of cool things that have happened like with racing, but nothing that rivals being a dad for the first time.

AE: What are some of the core values you look to instill in your children as they grow up?famlloyd

AL: My oldest kids is nine. I am trying to instill the value of money into them and the value of hard work. Those are two separate things, but I want all of my kids to understand the value of a dollar and how much you have to work for that. To get what you want in life is not easy. Everything is always hard and takes huge dedication to achieve what you want.

For me I can kind of draw on some experience from racing. From the amount of dedication that it took to have a few years in Indy Car and to live that dream. It was years and the sacrifice of not just me, but everybody around me had to do. So I am trying to instill those values of hard work and in life nothing does come easy.

I parent in somewhat of a relaxed way. I try not to be overly strict. I like to have fun with the kids. I just want to make sure that they are good kids. There is a lot of things especially with the first one where you are like I got to get them in bed at this particular time. If they are crying I need to get them out. You are very much hands on. I think people with a lot kids will say that you just become more and more relaxed. You realize that as long as you are a good person, you do right, and you teach your kids right from wrong and shower them in love things generally seem to go okay. My oldest is nine so I got a long ways to know if I am doing it right. I am a big believer in showing them love, teaching them to be a good person, and hopefully things will turn out right.

AE: What advice do you have for new dads?

AL: I think it goes back to what I said a minute ago. There is always that bit of nervousness of is life going to change? Am I in the right financial place for this? Do I have everything together? I think a lot of dads feel that. I don’t know if I got my own life together yet. There is a lot of nervousness that comes with it. The biggest thing is that everything is always okay. No matter what situation you are in hopefully you have a great job and it is the perfect time. For some people it may not be the perfect time, but there never is a perfect time.

Also savor the time because things to move so fast. The birth process, the pregnancy, and all those little things that move so quickly. Even with four kids I still sit there and think, God I miss those baby stages sometimes. It is kind of weird because I could never ever have five kids. I feel like four is at the tipping point for us. Yet you miss things and things go by so quickly. Know that everything is going to be good. Everything is going to be fine. Enjoy it. Take it all in. Try and spend as much time with them as you can when they are young because time flies alexandsonby quicker than you think.

Life of Dad Quick Five

AE: Do you guys have a favorite family movie that you all love to watch together?

AL: So this is a weird one. Right now it is Jurassic Park. My kids love it. I like it too.

AE: Do you guys have a favorite song that you all like to sing to or dance to as a family?

AL: Frozen’s Let It Go. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite by any means. (Both laugh.) That was the favorite for a while.

AE: Describe the perfect family vacation.

AL: When I moved here I traveled in an RV. That was really cool. So I would love to do a proper long road trip where you could take two to three weeks and get a nice big RV and travel around the country.

AE: What was the first car you purchased?

AL: My first car that I drove was called a Peugeot 306. It was a turbo diesel that they had in Europe. When I came over to America it was a Chevy Tahoe.

AE: For Indy Car fans who haven’t been to a race which track would you recommend for them to check out their first live race?

AL: The Indianapolis 500 has got to be the one.

Follow Alex on Twitter at @alex_lloyd