Jason Harris spent much of 2026 chasing two world championships. He finished with one, although the fifth PDRA title of his career was enough to put him in some pretty exclusive company.
Harris completed his self-described “Drive for Five” at Virginia Motorsports Park, securing his third PDRA Pro Boost championship to go with two previous Pro Nitrous titles. He then finished the weekend by winning the Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals, giving him a second consecutive victory at the season-ending event and his second win of 2026.
“It’s been surreal,” Harris said. “You know, we raced really hard in the beginning of the season. We were going back and forth between two organizations. PDRA’s always been my home, so I knew I wasn’t gonna leave this one behind.
“My goal was to win a championship this year and we accomplished that. Right now, it’s all about winning the fifth championship and winning this race is just icing on a cake.”
The reference to two organizations wasn’t insignificant. Harris also led the IHRA Pro Mod championship standings when the sanctioning body’s season came to an abrupt end, leaving him among four professional category points leaders without the opportunity to settle their respective championships.
Harris had reached the final round at every IHRA event except the major Pro Mod race at Milan Dragway, winning both the Spring Nationals and the Triple Crown event at Hebron. He was in position to potentially become a two-time world champion in 2026, but IHRA’s problems ended that pursuit before the championship could be decided.
The PDRA championship, however, was another matter entirely. Harris had the opportunity to finish that one on the race track, although it required recovering from a midseason stretch that nearly cost him the title.
His “Party Time” ’69 Camaro came out swinging, qualifying No. 2 at each of the first three PDRA races. Harris won the East Coast Nationals at Galot Motorsports Park, defeating Melanie Salemi and her screw-blown “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird in the final round.
The middle of the season wasn’t nearly as productive. Two semifinal appearances and a quarterfinal exit allowed Johnny Camp to erase Harris’ advantage, and Camp took over the championship lead at Drag Wars, the next-to-last race of the season.
That left Harris arriving at Virginia Motorsports Park needing to take back what he’d controlled for much of the year. He defeated Ethan Steding in the opening round, and when Camp lost to Carson Perry, the championship mathematics shifted in Harris’ favor.
There was still some figuring to do before the celebration could begin. With PDRA officials unable to immediately confirm the championship, Harris and his team worked through the points themselves, using pencils, paper and calculators to determine defending champion Ty Tutterow could no longer catch him.
“That’s happened in the past, too…I think in 2018, I did the same thing,” Harris said. “You just relax after that. I knew when Johnny went out behind me that it was gonna be close. They (PDRA) couldn’t really confirm, but we sat down with pencils and papers and calculators, and we figured out that it was over, that Ty [Tutterow] couldn’t catch me.
“Johnny and Ty are super tough competitors, and you just do the best you can and hope at the end of the year you come out on top.”
With the championship secured, Harris still had a race to win, and the World Finals wasn’t exactly offering an easy path to another trophy.
The event attracted 31 Pro Boost entries fighting for 16 qualifying positions, the largest field in the category’s PDRA history. Harris survived the qualifying battle and worked his way through eliminations to complete a weekend in which he collected both the championship and the event victory.
Harris believes the current depth of Pro Boost has made every round a potential stumbling block, regardless of qualifying position. Even the quickest cars in the field have little protection against a driver who can get off the starting line first.
“Pro Boost is the hardest class in drag racing right now,” Harris said. “You’ve got great tuners, great equipment, and great guys that are driving. Just look at where guys are (on the tree). If you’re .20 and .30, you’re late.
“I mean, guys slip up, don’t get me wrong, but at the end of the day, you better be on your game no matter who you draw, and there’s no duck from No. 1-16. Different tracks I’m good at and different tracks I’m bad at, and it just seems like Virginia’s always been good to me.”
Camp finished second in the championship standings after winning twice during the season, including the rain-delayed Carolina Nationals and Drag Wars at Galot Motorsports Park. Tutterow, the 2025 Pro Boost champion, finished third after closing the season with four consecutive No. 1 qualifying efforts in Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’68 Camaro.
For Harris, the championship followed a familiar pattern. His teams have started seasons strong, struggled through the middle and found their footing again when the trophies were on the line.
“We started out really hot and we just had a kind of a lull in the middle there,” Harris said. “And if you go back and look at history, that’s kind of my forte. I start out hot and end up hot.
“I can’t really explain it. It’s just been one of those years, with ups and downs, goods and bads, but at the end of the day, if you can end on a good note, that carries your momentum into the next season.”
Harris credited Brandon Stroud, his crew, father Bob Harris, wife Crystal Harris and longtime team member Paul Paraskevas for helping carry the operation through a season that required competing on multiple fronts.
Paraskevas has been part of all five championship campaigns, a stretch that now includes titles in two of the toughest categories in professional doorslammer racing.
The unfinished IHRA championship will remain one of the unanswered questions surrounding Harris’ 2026 season. His PDRA accomplishments, however, require no speculation, and five championships across two categories have earned him a place among the organization’s most successful drivers.
Harris knows whose name inevitably comes up when the conversation turns to winning doorslammer championships.
“I’ve been fortunate enough for this to happen five times,” Harris said. “I feel like I’m getting in the presence of Rickie Smith and all his championships. I just hope the Lord allows me to keep continuing and we’ll just keep pushing on.”
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