ASHLAND, Neb. — Those gray clouds that seemed to follow Tyler Harr for so much of the summer gave way to a ray of sunshine at the end of the season.
Harr overcame a totaled race car, a slew of engine issues and more rainouts than he really cared to count in earning rookie of the year honors in IMCA’s Jet Racing Central Region for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds.
“In the end it was all worth it. This is the biggest accomplishment of my racing career,” said the determined Harr, who chased rookie points at nine venues in Nebraska and Kansas. “When stuff like that happened, the blown engines, the truck breaking down, the rainouts, it was stressful in the moment.”
“It was one of those years when it could be three o’clock in the afternoon and not a cloud in the sky, but we were checking the forecast to make sure it wasn’t going to rain,” he continued. “But we always had to do our best to stay in a good mood about things because we do this for fun. If it wasn’t fun, we wouldn’t be doing it.”
Harr always had the rookie prize in his sites, first in a 2015 GRT ride rolled and wrecked in mid-May, then in a 2022 Rage Chassis. The 21-year-old from Ashland persevered despite blown motors, tow vehicle breakdowns, flat tires on the trailer and nights spent at home watching it rain.
“We had always talked about going for the national rookie. Our plan for the season was to try to race two or three times a week and if that put us in the top 10 for national rookie, it would be awesome. I set a goal for myself to win regional rookie,” he said. “There were times when I was wondering if we were pretty much done, but right out of the box the (Rage) car was awesome. We were more than 300 points behind in regional rookie points in late July but luckily we were able to wrap up rookie of the year the last night of the season.”
Harr ran go karts before getting into local crate late model classes, and was a Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod winner at Eagle in 2023 before making the move to the Modified this season.
“I really like the skinny Hoosier tires. The Sport Mod was a blast to drive but the Modified is a whole new dynamic,” said Harr, grandson of long-time promoter David Jewett. “It’s a lot more challenging. You have to keep the car under you and you have to keep it straight. The Modified is really technical – if you’re off just a little bit, you’re out to lunch.”
Harr is a senior at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, nearing a degree in mechanical engineering. He’s added to his racing education working weeknights and frequent weekends, pulling parts for shipping at Speedway Motors for the past year and a half.