Todd Harris' Trans-Am Dream Comes True

Pacific Northwest driver takes second place at Portland race

Portland, Ore (PRWEB / PRWEB) June 25, 2009 -- The pavilions have been struck and hauled away, the banners folded up and placed in storage, and concession stands closed. The merchant midway is empty.

There had been several thousand people and over 300 competitors in the 49th Annual Rose Cup races at Portland International Raceway (PIR). Of that number, 17 entered in the Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am race. At the end of 90-miles of hot, grueling, and strenuous racing only one driver from the Pacific Northwest reached the podium: Portland's Todd Harris.

As Harris sat behind his desk at the Pro Drive Racing School at PIR, he had a chance to reflect on the events of this past weekend at the now quiet and deserted racing facility.

Only a few short weeks ago the racing instructor wasn't sure if he could fulfill his lifelong dream of competing in the Trans-Am; a North American racing series for ground-pounding muscle cars that is as steeped in history at Portland's Rose Cup.

An agreement was worked out with Trans-Am legend Greg Pickett from Benicia, CA for Harris to pilot the team's second Jaguar XKR. Harris leapt at the chance to team with Pickett, his former Rose Cup rival, who he bested in the 2007 Rose Cup feature. "It was a great honor to be teamed with a former Trans-Am champion like Greg," Harris said. "I watched Greg race his Trans-Am Corvettes in the 1970's and 1980's. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would one day be teammates."

The car hadn't been raced in seven years and underwent an extensive, ground-up rebuild to prepare it for Harris. Harris only drove the car for the first time a few days before official qualifying began, but he adapted quickly and he and the team achieved third fastest time in qualifying behind the Jaguars of Tomy Drissi and teammate Greg Pickett. Harris' Jaguar carried sponsorship from Muscle Milk and Temp-Control Mechanical Corp. There were also bright orange Fluge Global Adventures stickers on his car, as a tribute to his friend, and student Nick Fluge. Fluge made his professional racing debut in the Portland Trans-Am race driving to a 7th place finish in the Derhaag Corvette that Harris had won the 2007 Rose Cup with.

"Being in the race was a dream come true, but I knew finishing in the top three and reaching the victory circle podium was going to be difficult," Harris explained.

"The ninety-mile race distance is about the maximum these cars can reach without a pit stop, and finishing well would mean conserving tires without giving up speed or track position," said Harris.

In fact, during the race he was running only a second or so slower than his third-place qualifying time with a full fuel load.

"I knew there would be a fine line between going fast and using up all our equipment before the race was over, and being patient so the tires and car would last to the end," Harris said.

When team owner Greg Pickett, running second to leader Tomy Drissi blew an engine right before the checkered flag, the front straight at PIR was filled with smoke and covered with oil.

"Wow, that was a scary blow-up, like in a Hollywood movie," Harris explained. "I literally couldn't see where I was going. I didn't know if I was going to hit somebody in front of me or get creamed by somebody from behind."

He tiptoed through the hazardous and slippery stretch of track, kept his position ahead of a hard charging Tony Ave in his Corvette, and finished the race second behind series point leader Tomy Drissi of Hollywood, Calif.

Standing on the Trans-Am podium in his first attempt with wife, children, family and friends all in attendance, was almost more than Harris could have hoped for.

"Everyone has dreams that they would like to fulfill. However, it takes hard work, dedication and sometimes years to turn those dreams into reality. As the old saying goes, nobody ever said it would be easy," he said while getting back to work at his racing school office.

"If I can work at my craft and pursue the opportunities when they arise, then I know anyone can do the same. We have people walk through Pro Drive's doors every day who want to be better drivers on the street, or want to live out their dream of getting behind the wheel of a racing car. We help turn their driving dreams into reality everyday," Harris explained.

His next goal is to compete in another Trans-Am race this season, and also to see the series return to PIR next year. Team owner Greg Pickett sounded optimistic. "I'm very happy for Todd. He's a great young man. Don't be surprised if he is in one of our cars again because I'm very impressed with him."

"The idea was to get it started this year, let word of mouth spread about the great competition there is in the Trans-Am series, have twice as many cars next year, and have a real rumble,'' Harris said. "I'm hoping and praying that dream also comes true.''

PORTLAND, Oregon - Results from Sunday's 46-lap, 90.482 mile Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Round Five race
at Portland International Raceway, with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car,
laps and reason out (if any).
1. (1), Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, Calif., Jaguar XKR, 46.
2. (3), Todd Harris(R), Portland, Ore., Jaguar XKR, 46, -47.996.
3. (4), Tony Ave, Maiden, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette, 46, -52.462.
4. (5), Simon Gregg, Ponte Verda Beach, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette, 45, -1 lap.
5. (2), Greg Pickett, Benicia, Calif., Jaguar XKR, 44, Mech.
6. (11), Glen Jung(R), Osteen, Fla., Mazda RX-7, 43, -3 laps.
7. (6), Nick Fluge(R), Portland, Ore., Chevrolet Corvette, 42, -4 laps.
8. (9), Elmer Shannon(R), San Francisco, Calif., Chevrolet Corvette, 28, Mech.
9. (10), Jerry Kinn, Anchorage, Alaska, Chevrolet Corvette, 15, Mech.
10. (13), Tim Brown(R), Port Coquitlan, British Columbia, Ford Mustang, 7, Mech.
11. (15), James Yozamp(R), Bend, Ore., Ford Fusion, 5, Mech.
12. (17), Kevin Malone(R), Vancouver, Wash., Chevrolet Camaro, 4, Mech.
13. (8), Rob Holden(R), Woodinville, Wash., Chevrolet Corvette, 3, Mech.
14. (7), Daniel Ramoutarsingh(R), LaRomain Trinidad, Jaguar XKR, 2, Mech.
15. (12), Jeff Holden(R), Everett, Wash., Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 2, Mech.
16. (14), Kyle Kelly(R), Huntington Beach, Calif., Chevrolet Camaro, 0, DNS.
17. (16), Terry Ward(R), Portland, Ore., Pontiac Grand Prix, 0, DNS.