Chad Harris' no. 3 LBDD Chevrolet

SHOOTIN’ THE SHIFT WITH CHAD HARRIS

JW Martin

It’s tough to build a championship season. Chad Harris knows; the Stuarts Draft, Va., native has accomplished the feat three times.

A lot has changed since Harris’ last track title in 2002; the competition is tougher and the finances it takes to successfully compete are tougher to find. In the past several seasons, money has been the chief reason why Harris hasn’t been in championship contention; he hasn’t completed a full season at Motor Mile Speedway since 2004, only recording two starts in 2006.

So call 2008 a “rebuilding” year for Harris and his brand-new number 3 team. This season Harris has been partnered with Landmark Builders/Dublin Developers, a design build contracting company that has literally given Harris the tools to construct a championship-caliber team. The season was a work-in-progress, but the foundation has been laid. Harris ended the season fifth in the standings with six top fives and twelve top tens.

Harris didn’t win his fourth championship in 2008, but considering the circumstances it was a good year for an organization building from the ground up.

Luckily, Harris is paired with the perfect sponsor.

JM: JW Martin

CH: Chad Harris

JM: First, talk about your new team-how did that come about?

CH: I got a phone call that they were interested in talking to me, and it progressed into a two month deal and we finally decided that’s what we were gonna do. I’m very happy with it; the team we’ve put together has been really good. We’ve gone through some growing pains. You know, they had a team but basically we started over…from the wrenches up.

JM: You are partnered with Landmark Builders and Dublin Developers this season. In what ways has their sponsorship helped the team, and in your opinion, does having a backer like that give you an edge, or does it just offset the costs?

CH: Oh it’s an edge. The last few years I’ve run, I’ve run on a tight budget. And that’s kind of an understatement. Landmark, they give us the tools to come race. I mean, we don’t go out and just blow money by no means; you can’t do that in anything you’re doing. But we’re allowed to get what we need to go racing and to come run up front and contend to win races.

JM: Access the season; has the team met expectations this year, and if you were to grade yourselves based on the team’s performance, what would the grade be?

CH: My expectations and everybody involved with it- we have very, very high expectations. So to meet what we want, I’d say we haven’t. But to be realistic about it –and like I said we started without a wrench– we went and built a team up to where right now, about half-way through the season we’ve started getting to where we want to be. Working through different chassis that I haven’t dealt with in probably about six years, and just putting that whole thing together has taken a little time. So as far as my team, I’d give them an ‘A’ or an ‘A-’. As far as the driver and some things he’s done, probably a ‘C’. But if we can keep all that together – what we have right now – I think it’s gonna be really good as we move on.

JM: How old were you when you began racing competitively, and why did you decide to get into the sport?

CH: Well, I was 12 years-old the first competitive race I ever ran. And that was in go-karts. We ended up racing go-karts all over the east coast. The way it got started was my Dad raced, and I’ve been goin’ to racetracks since I was born. That’s all I’ve ever known; I’ve been racing since I was 12 and I’m 40 now, so I’ve been doing this a long time. It’s a lifestyle for me more than a hobby.

JM: Early in your career you totaled 117 go-kart wins and back-to-back Virginia state championships in 1985 and ‘86. Specifically, how did that type of racing prepare you for your later endeavors in stock cars- and is there more to gain from karting than just seat time and experience?

CH: Learning how to race people and set them up- because the go-karts are so competitive; a lot like this sport is now, I mean the cars are so even. So it kind of all relates, and I think that’s why you see a lot of guys come out of Legends cars and karts andthey’re able to be pretty competitive as soon as they get in a Late Model. They have to learn how to use what they have and race without a huge advantage, and that’s what it teaches you. Most of our karts were open-wheel, so you learn how to make passes in very tight holes without putting it on your head.

JM: You’ve accumulated three track titles at Motor Mile Speedway in 1996, 2000 and 2002. Which one is your personal favorite and why?

CH: Well, I’d like to have another one.

It’s hard to say, really. The first one was very satisfying, because I hadn’t been here roughly two years when I came in and I won it. We started out with our own team and we didn’t have enough money to run it. I switched cars to another team that needed a driver about five races into the year, and we were competitive from week one in it. And at that time Agnew was here, Johnny Rumley- you name it, they were here. So it was very gratifying to have won that one when all the names and the history that came through this place; they were all here at that time. But I wouldn’t take anything for any of them.

JM: You have seen some highs and lows in the standings since your last championship in 2002. What aspects of the sport have changed since your last track title that has made it more difficult to record a championship-caliber season?

CH: Probably money. The teams I won with then – I mean, we weren’t under-funded by no means, don’t get me wrong – but right now if we brought that team into this equation then we’d be really hurting. But in the scope of things at that time, we were in pretty good shape. We weren’t a high-buck team, we did a lot of stuff ourselves and we had really good people, which is the key to it no matter how much money you got. But money is the biggest thing. You know, this is really my first full year running here since 2004, and the reason I haven’t was mainly money. The team I’m with now, we have all the tools to be successful and I’m very comfortable with the people we have.

JM: Did you have any idols on the cup circuit when you were growing up, and is there one particular driver who you tried to pattern your driving style after?

CH: I was always a Terry Labonte fan. I’ve been at race tracks where he was testing and he’d go out and it was like the car never changed; he could do a 50 lap run and it was almost like he’d ran the same lap times every lap. And to me that’s a heckuva wheelman. I respected him the way he handled himself and the way he drove a car too.

JM: If you could only win one cup race your entire career, at what track would you want to win on and why?

CH: Well, I have two. It’d either be Martinsville or Bristol. Martinsville is a racetrack where you have to be very disciplined, and be within yourself and aggressive too. So it’s very challenging in that way. Bristol; I think anybody that’s ever sat in a racecar would love to win down there.

JM: Let’s say you’ve just won NASCAR’s Cup series Rookie of the Year and you’re going to the best restaurant in the world for supper. The folks in administration have set it up where you can choose any five people, dead or alive, to eat with you. Who would you chose and why?

CH: The people I would take would be my wife, my Mom and Dad and my brother. They’re the ones that I would want to be there with me.