Jim Harrington, a fierce competitor and winner in NHRA and IHRA competition over three decades, died Dec. 28. He was 48.
The versatile Harrington, who also ran a drag racing school in North Carolina, scored three NHRA national event victories – in Super Stock, Stock, and Super Comp -- and was a multiple-time winner in IHRA competition.
Harrington earned his first NHRA Wally more than 20 years ago with a Stock win at the 1985 Gatornationals, and he added a Super Comp victory at the 1994 Phoenix event. He became one of the sport's rare three-class winners in 2008 when he scored in Super Stock in Bristol. Harrington also had three national event runner-ups. The New Jersey native, who lived in Chapel Hill, N.C., also scored numerous divisional and bracket racing wins.
"One of the most prolific competitors in the history of Sportsman drag racing, Jim Harrington was capable of winning in anything he drove," commented drag racing announcer and historian Bret Kepner. "The New Jersey driver earned NHRA and IHRA national event titles in everything from Stock to Modified eliminator and scored major bracket racing victories in dozens of different machines. Harrington applied radically different ideas in drag racing theory and developed an amazingly successful strategy, which made him one of the most feared opponents. Instilled with a desire to see his comrades succeed, he taught virtually all his trade secrets to students of his own drag racing school and was responsible for the development of hundreds of today's best-known racers.
"His enthusiasm for the sport was matched only by his love of life and his wife, Tracie. Each day was an adventure, and each trip brought new stories to be treasured. Known by such monikers as 'Happy Harry,' 'Big Jim,' and 'Jimmy the Shoe,' every moment spent with Harrington was a party in itself. He was a giant in both physical stature and drag racing legend and, whether judged by event titles or friendships earned, will be remembered as one of the sport's all-time winners."
A viewing will be held Thursday, Dec. 31, from 2 to 5 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 1, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Bizub-Quinlan Funeral Home, 1313 Van Houten Ave., Clifton, NJ 07013. A memorial service will be held Saturday, Jan. 2, at 10:30 a.m., followed by burial at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa, N.J. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
Special note from the family: "We are going to load some digital photos on a few digital photo frames for everyone to view during the wake. Anyone who would like a photo or two included, please e-mail a jpeg or two no later than 9 a.m EST Thursday to nhra1209@aol.com."