A most deserving & talented Canadian race team — secures a PDRA first!
Going into last weekend’s season concluding PDRA World Finals weekend and sitting third in Elite Top Dragster points, Canadian Kyle Harris needed numerous things to go his way.
In order for him to pass past world champions Steve Furr and Kellan Farmer for a PDRA world championship, he needed both fate and fortune. Harris, from Buford Ontario held up his end, qualifying No. 1 with career-best numbers (3.682 secs) and then racing to the event win!
Kyle Harris & KHR celebrate their history making PDRA World Championship. They are the first Canadian team to accomplish that!
In the final round, Harris delivered when everything was on the line. He cut a .009 light and ran a 3.799 on a 3.73 dial-in in his supercharged DFS Projects ’15 Horton dragster to defeat Frank Falter III, who broke out by one thousandth with his 3.729 in his supercharged “Candy Man” ’22 Miller dragster. And with that the prestigious season title for the Elite Top Dragster class category – was reality, and Kyle Harris became the first Canadian to win a World Championship title within the PDRA’s sanctioning history.
Nate Van Wagnen (Drag Illustrated) with Kyle Harris
“We knew going into the final race of the season that mathematically, I had a chance of winning the championship in the Elite Top Dragster category for the 2024 season,” Kyle said. “We basically needed all the points possible to do it — attendance points, qualifying points and a final round win would cover us by just a few points over the current number one and two in the standings going into this race.”
“We faced a formidable task as Steve Furr is a multi time champion and arguably one of the most highly respected Top Dragster racers in the country and Kellan Farmer sitting in second is also a past world Champion with the PDRA in Elite Top Dragster,” Kyle continued. “We knew entering eliminations in order to win the 2024 Championship, Steve would need to go out round one and Kellan out in round two and I would need to qualify higher than they did as well in order to collect valuable qualifying points. In this class race, every point counts and I did not have the luxury of being able to leave anything on the table under any circumstance.”
Prior to the all on the line championship final, Kyle had driven a terrific event. That included defeating Steve Furr head-to-head in round one followed by equally consequently wins and pressure packed win lights over Scott Luken and Linzie Coleman in rounds two and three. That set the stage for the final round against Frank Falter, driver of the “Candy Man” entry who had qualified number two.
“Never have I held so many emotions at a single event,” Kyle reflected. “For me to be a World Champion feels unbelievable. We worked so hard for this all year and being up against the best of the best and to then finish out on top in the most fantastic way possible!
“I am so proud of this team. My wife Jennie Azzopardi Harris, my son Ryan Harris and I have put everything into this to see it through,” he beamed. “Dedication and hard work has paid off — WE ARE THE 2024 PDRA Elite Top Dragster Champions!”
KHR’s PDRA Championship season did in fact come close to even more glory. Going into the World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park, Kyle’s son Ryan Harris was leading the championship points standings in the Pro Junior Dragster category. At VMP qualifying for the JR Dragsters proved to be difficult with weather conditions and cold temperatures making things extra challenging for all those class racers. Ryan, who had won 3X in PDRA circuit racing in 2024 came up just a bit short in qualifying and with that his championship aspirations did slip away. Ryan’s outstanding year did however earn him a highly respected 3rd position in overall season points.
Ryan Harris finished 3rd in final PDRA season points for Junior Dragster.
“Thank you for all of the congratulations and kind words from everyone that has reached out so far!,” Kyle posted on behalf of KHR to Facebook. “Thank you to our team sponsors and supporters. We couldn’t have done it without you!”
Posted with files by Bruce Biegler & Nate Van Wagnen
Photos by Geoff Sculley – Gary Rowe – Steve Embling
