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Defending Champ Says 2015 Will be Toughest Year Yet in Pro Nitrous

PITTSBORO, NC – Pro Nitrous has never been a class for the faint of heart. With a host of committed, passionate, top Jason Harris - 2014 Pro Nitrous Championnotch teams, this fire-breathing division of Pro Mod took required a profusion of guts and was stingy on the glory. Last season, Jason Harris made Pro Nitrous look more like a cakewalk, going to the final of every PDRA National Event, claiming six overall event wins and a clear Championship victory. Looks can be deceiving, however, and Harris believes things will only get tougher from here.

“I’d say this year will be the toughest year we’ve seen in Pro Nitrous, just for the simple fact that everybody seems to have the same combination,” explained the defending Champ. “There’s a lot of Musi motors out there and a lot of Sonny motors. Plus, Reher Morrison has really stepped up their game. It’s going to probably be as tight as NHRA Pro Stock. It’s going to come down to drivers more than equipment this year. Everybody’s got the horsepower. Everybody’s got a good car and crew. It’s definitely going to a battleground this year. Not that last year was easy, but I think I made it look a little easier than it actually was. It’s definitely going to be a fight this year.”

Harris says he’s happy to enter that battlefield and walk around with a target on his back, a badge of honor that he’s worked 20 years to achieve.

“If I can have half as good of a year this year as I had last year, I’ll be happy. I’m just thankful to be racing, doing what I love to do. I never was star struck as far as what I’ve done. I’m really proud of what I’ve done, but it took me a while to realize what I accomplished last year. Over the last 20 years of me drag racing, I’ve tried really hard to win a local championship or one with the IHRA. I never really got close other than divisional stuff. It was a surreal ending when I realized I had finally won the championship and against such a great group of racers. These guys are the best of the best. I still don’t think it’s fully sunk in. But we did have such a good year, that I’m sure we’ll have some disappointments along the way this year. My dad told me a long time ago that you’ve got to be a good loser before you can be a good winner, and I told him I’ve done my fair share of losing. Now I’ve done some great winning. Like I said, if I can have half as good a year as I had a last year, I’ll be pleased.

“I went into every race thinking as long as we can qualify we’ll have a good weekend,” Harris continued. “I just kept that optimistic attitude. I don’t go into every race thinking that I’m going to win every one. I just want to have a good time, try to qualify, not mess up our parts and just race. That’s all I care about. I take each one round by round, and that’s what really helped us last year. We just took each round as it came. That simplistic attitude got us to where we’re at. We’re going into it with the same mentality this year. And it’s going to be a lot tougher this year. There’s a lot of good guys out there. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m up to it. And with good sponsors behind me hopefully I’ll be able to repeat.”

Harris plans to repeat by keeping much of the same combination that led to his incredible Championship-clinching season. “We didn’t try to change a lot [in the off season]. We had talked about buying or building a new car, but we just didn’t. When you have something that works good, don’t’ change it. We didn’t want to start the year off with an experiment. I think that was part of the reason I did so good last year. We came in basically with the same combination we did the year before. that helped us a lot as far as testing and getting off on the right foot. I think getting off to a good start sets the precedence for the year, so this year we didn’t want to change a lot.

“We do have a new motor, a bigger motor, to try to keep up with the cubic inch wars. DRAG 965 with Sheik Mohammad al Sabah is backing us again this year. We really appreciate his partnership and support. I’ve also still got Hoosier Tire, Fuse Fuel, and Diamond Pistons back on board. I did pick up the Nitrous Outlet with David Vasser. They came on board this year with me to help me out with nitrous bottles and anything else I need. They’re real nice guys. I like to deal with companies that give back to the racers, and all those companies really work for their races.”

Also new to Harris’ operation is his son, born just days before Harris accepted his trophy at the PDRA banquet in December. Harris is already a second generation racer and expects that it won’t be long before his son will make the Harris dynasty three generations strong. “This will be his first race coming up at Dallas. He’ll do okay I think. It’s in his blood. I tried to fight it for a long time, didn’t think I wanted to do it, but there’s no fighting it. We eat, sleep and breathe it.”

With the second PDRA season just days away from getting its start at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tx. vibes surrounding the growing organization are even more positive than they were for the series’ inaugural year. Racer support is high and companies are coming on board weekly to show their support for professional eighth mile racing. For Harris there’s no question that the PDRA is exactly what drag racing needs.

“I think drag racing really needs an organization that’s run by people that not only have businesses themselves but are also racers themselves,” he explained. “A lot of racing organizations are run by businessmen, but they’re not as tied to the racing end of it and they kind of lose track of what’s important for racers and for drag racing in general. I think these guys who work at their regular businesses everyday and have a passion for drag racing is a great combination. It’s a win-win. We can’t ask for a better series than what we’ve got. It’s very family oriented. The owners really listen to the racers. Every day they make strides to not only make the PDRA, but the sport overall, better. It’s here to stay. Drag racing is changing and I think these guys are on board to go with the change. It’s been the same for the last 50 years and it’s time for everybody to take a step back and look at how drag racing is changing and I think these guys are willing to do that.”

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