COMP RACER HARRISON GETS HIS PLACE IN THE CANADIAN HALL OF FAME
Mike Wakefield, North Shore News NHRA Competition Eliminator racer Rob Harrison recently received the ultimate honor as he was inducted into the Greater Vancouver Motorsport Hall of Fame.
The 12th annual induction ceremony took place on Sept. 22 in Cloverdale Surrey, British Columbia.
“I was so shocked by all of this I didn’t tell anybody,” said Harrison, who lives in North Vancouver. “Oh boy did I get in trouble for not telling anybody. All of my crew guys weren’t very happy with me. It was a very humbling experience and certainly an honor. It was quite the big deal. It really has not sunk in yet at all. I have people who see me on the street and come up and shake my hand and say congratulations. It is just overwhelming.”
Harrison started his NHRA career with a 1957 Chevrolet that he transformed into a winning ride. Harrison started racing Competition Eliminator in 1988.
Harrison who has been turning heads with his engines ever since he has been racing.
Harrison initially focused his attention to getting up to 700 horsepower out of a six cylinder engine to set a world speed record in the quarter mile at 7.98 seconds.
In 2005, Harrison built an engine that can rev 9,000 RPM. It was project that consumed him.
On Harrison’s website, inlinesix.com, he admits the following:
“The 260 dyno pulls testing the engine's power, the five complete air induction systems, and the18 months of trial and error at the start of the project almost broke our back. The lack of success was the most difficult part to accept. After almost 30 months, the last 150 horsepower was found in 4 dyno pulls. IGOR was alive!”
Harrison’s most recent accomplishment was winning the Comp Eliminator class at the 2011 Winternationals in February in Pomona, Calif. Harrison beat world champion David Rampy in the finals.
“I remember it was easily eight weeks after the Winternationals and I was walking down the hall of my house and I remember starring out the window and I said, ‘I won the Winternationals.’ I got 141 (phone) calls when I got home after I won that race.”
Harrison made it to Victory Lane in Pomona in a Cavalier built by Don Ness.
These days, Harrison is pondering his NHRA plans for next year and beyond.
“We have never done the full NHRA national circuit,” Harrison said. “I think our next race we may go to is Las Vegas (Oct. 25-28). We also might race full-time in the NHRA circuit in 2013. I have never really thought about stopping racing. I can’t see myself stopping. Igor has gotten bigger than all of us.”
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