Damien Harris will return to his home crowd more experienced this weekend after racing in the USA several weeks ago.
Harris drove for NSW team owner Santo Rapisarda after a chance phone call and after getting a pit crew organised was soon pulling into the staging lanes to get ready for his first pass at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) World Finals in California.
“It becomes surreal when you you’re doing what you’ve wanted to do for ten years. It is one of those bucket list things,” he said.
Harris barely missed qualifying for the 16-car eliminations field, finishing in 17th spot. Team mate and experienced USA driver Cory McClenathan helped show Harris the ropes during the event, providing valuable advice about how they do things in the NHRA.
Harris is hopeful of competing more in the USA, with a preference for the Nitro Funny Car division.
“In the next 12 months we’d like to take the Funny Car to the States, it depends on funding and other things,” he said. “The dragster is cool but it takes itself down the trace track, not a lot of work. The Funny Car feels quicker because you are so busy.”
The immediate focus however is on Perth and the second round of the ANDRA Pro Series for Top Fuel. Harris is coming off a mixed Sydney round where the team ran a personal best time of 4.62sec. but lost early in eliminations.
“We want to qualify well and hopefully we can run in the 4.7sec. zone straight up,” he said. “The car has not changed at all, but it will be different weather and track surface. Hopefully we can win a final and then make up for the first round loss in Sydney.”
