A supplement to last November’s inductions into the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame….

The Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame added to its honour role late last season and that elite event list did include a very creative Canadian — Brian (Harry) Hibbs from Barrie Ontario.

Harry was recognized for not only being a driver but also for his talents as a fabricator and valued crew member.

History shows that Brian — commonly known as Harry — started his racing career with Wayne Martin in 1983. Wayne Martin was running Super Pro at the time and eventually moved on to Top Sportsman in IHRA.

In 1987, Harry decided he would like to try his hand at driving and purchased the Super Pro Camaro that Al Billes had campaigned for many years. He ran this car for a few years until he went to work with Al Billes at Al Billes Racing (ABR). 

In 1990, Harry started working at ABR and hung up his helmet for a number of years. At ABR, Harry worked with Al and Dave Billes along with: Brad Francis, Bert Straus and many other talented Canadians, to build that record shattering and very creative 1990 Camaro that Al Billes campaigned very successfully for a number of years (both with nitrous injection and then supercharged engine programs).  During that period Harry traveled extensively on the IHRA circuit campaigning the Camaro, and then other ABR cars, including  Billes’ dabble with Alcohol Funny Car class racing.  The team amassed many IHRA National wins, set records and finished 2nd in final IHRA Pro Mod points on season.

Harry Hibbs played a very intricate role within the development of one of the most revolutionary Pro Mod cars of it’s time — Al Billes’ “Can-Am” style 1990 Camaro.

During the early years at ABR there was much development work done for both chassis and engine programs. Not only was Harry tasked with engine development — he was also involved with a great many innovative chassis design and modifications. 

In 1995, after a brief sabbatical from driving, Harry returned to dragster driving and he campaigned a car with Mississuaga’s Vic Richards for two years before then building his own dragster from scratch.

Harry Hibbs’ career as a driver did include experience driving some very fast dragsters in T/D and Pro Comp — including this stint with Vic Richards’ API/Big Brute car (from Mississauga) 

In that car he initially ran a nitrous engine combination before moving up to a supercharged Chevy combination. 

A few years later — Harry decided his true passion lied within building engines, working on the cars, and being part of race crews to maintain a safe, efficient and competitive race car. In discovering  this, he sold his race program.  

Some of the many drivers Harry has since been involved with and won races with include: Roger Burgess, Melanie Troxel, Leah Pruett, Raymond Commisso, Kenny Lang, Eric Latino and Ralph Andreacchi. 

During this time, Harry has been an active crew member on many of the cars, both working at the shop and race track and to this day Harry is involved with many of the racing and R&D projects at ABR.

About the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame: Located in Montreal, Que., the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame was founded in 2014 by John Scotti, president of John Scotti Automotive Group, as a tribute to drag racing professionals in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro-Stock and Sportsman categories. The Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame, with new headquarters at 4475 Metropolitain Boulevard in Montreal’s east end, will soon open its museum to the public, allowing fans and participants alike to enjoy the many displays of drag racing paraphernalia—including race cars—donated by some of the sport’s biggest names.

Posted by Bruce Biegler

DragRaceCanada File Photos & by Stacee Richards