Travis Harvey proved last Saturday night that he can win a big race - even in the midst of the boss. The Mad Dawg event in Mooresville, N.C., ran late into the night, and when the smoke cleared, August 16, first time event winner, Travis Harvey, hoisted the Mad Dawg trophy - dispelling all rumors that car owner Russ Farmer is bad luck. 

"They told me I couldn't come tonight, but I showed up anyway," laughed Race Tech Race Cars owner, Russ Farmer.
 
Harvey, resident of Burlington, NC is having a spectacular year, which started in July with his first ever Big Dog trophy - an event Harvey won while Farmer was on vacation creating grounds for the good-natured ribbing. Harvey's Mad Dawg performance on Saturday, was anything but a joke, as he dipped into the teens to qualifying No. 1 in the heat with a 4.19 elapsed time at a series high 181 miles per hour. 
 
First round of eliminations got underway as the sun sank low in Mooresville's sky, and the packed grandstands were ready for some heads-up doorslammers. In round one action, eventual winner, Travis Harvey had to first catch Darrin Hoyle, who took an early lead out of the gate (.026 -.049). Hoyle's 4.24 came up short at the stripe though, as Harvey goes low for the round with a 4.18, 180mph.

Travis Harvey proved last Saturday night that he can win a big race - even in the midst of the boss. The Mad Dawg event in Mooresville, N.C., ran late into the night, and when the smoke cleared, August 16, first time event winner, Travis Harvey, hoisted the Mad Dawg trophy - dispelling all rumors that car owner Russ Farmer is bad luck. 

"They told me I couldn't come tonight, but I showed up anyway," laughed Race Tech Race Cars owner, Russ Farmer.
 
Harvey, resident of Burlington, NC is having a spectacular year, which started in July with his first ever Big Dog trophy - an event Harvey won while Farmer was on vacation creating grounds for the good-natured ribbing. Harvey's Mad Dawg performance on Saturday, was anything but a joke, as he dipped into the teens to qualifying No. 1 in the heat with a 4.19 elapsed time at a series high 181 miles per hour. 
 
First round of eliminations got underway as the sun sank low in Mooresville's sky, and the packed grandstands were ready for some heads-up doorslammers. In round one action, eventual winner, Travis Harvey had to first catch Darrin Hoyle, who took an early lead out of the gate (.026 -.049). Hoyle's 4.24 came up short at the stripe though, as Harvey goes low for the round with a 4.18, 180mph.
 
In the semi-finals, Harvey met red hot Jason Harris, a 2-time winner in the cross-town Big Dog series this season. Harvey was out of the gate first, and never looked back, again clocking low e.t. for the round with a 4.19, 175.
 
Harvey rolled to the lanes approaching 10:30pm to meet Sambo Price in the finals. Price isn't a regular with the series, and his good running, sky-high nitrous purging '68 Camaro was a welcome addition to the event. Sambo got past Ronnie Gardner and Joel Douglas in the prior rounds to earn his ticket to the finals against Harvey.
 
Harvey and the Race Tech team put a tune-up in the Camaro that Mooresville simply wasn't ready for. If not for all the cheering from his crew standing back at the starting line, you could have heard a pin drop as the scoreboard rang up a 4.15, 175mph. Harvey was first out of the gate, completely blazing a trail to the finish line. The runner-up package for Price was a 4.22, 173mph.
 
Always casting the spotlight on anyone but himself, the 26-year old Harvey is quick to talk about all the people who make this dream a reality. After placing runner-up to Chad Tilley in 2007, Harvey went the distance in Mad Dawg for the first time on Saturday, and credits the the increase in horsepower to a brand new engine from Graham, NC's Brett Nesbitt.

"Brett only started building engines about 3 years ago, and has mainly built bracket motors," said Harvey, adding that the new 763 is the first big engine that Nesbitt has ever built. The final round 4.15 second clocking was Harvey's career best by a wide margin. As for car owner, Russ Farmer, the presumed jinx can finally be put to rest. "I celebrated at the beach just as hard as I did tonight, but it's much more exciting to actually be here," laughed Farmer.
 
Identical to the main event, the consolation race on Saturday saw the top two qualifiers meeting in the final round. Tony Dale Wilson, with tuning assistence from his talented 19-year old sister, Tisha, drove the MBE Monte Carlo to a final round victory over Mike Heath. In only his second Mad Dawg event start, Heath was once again behind the wheel of Mark Jones' classic Olds Cutlass.

Catch the explosive Mad Dawgs on September 20, as the series meets again at Farmington for a big day of racing, including the much-anticipated "Hang 'em High" wheel standing contest. For more information about the Outlaw Mad Dawg series, you may visit: www.outlawmaddawgs.com or call Mark Joyce at (336) 992-3828.