It's not only the race car drivers that are hero's in the racing world. The people behind the scenes are the ones that make it possible for the fans to see a good drag race.
Such is the case with Richard (Slim ) Harris. Since 1971 Slim Harris now 73 years old has been standing for hours on hot summer days and cold winter nights giving the go signal by flipping the starter switch at Mooresville Dragway. Not only at Mooresville but his expertise has been used at many drag strips in his 48 years of doing it. One such track was the now closed Shuffletown Dragway Charlotte Nc. Slim has been there on the line controlling the Christmas tree when the greats like Levy Miles, Linson Kendall, David McDowell, Roger King and Gene Cromerwere still fighting the gasser wars in the early 1970's. At times Slim could even be seen kicking high when the cars left the line (pic below).
When the late 80's rolled around he give the go signal to the new and up coming class called Pro Mod. Slim started the likes of Charles Carpenter, Tommy Mauney, Blake Wiggins, Ken Regenthal, Quain Stott, Scotty Cannon, Ronnie Hood, Ed Hoover, Michael Martin the list could go on forever.
Slim known to be a fair man but very strict when it came to enforcing the rules of the track.
Slim was inducted in the NC Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2018 for his many dedicated years of controlling the starting line at many NC drag strips.
The Southeast Gassers Associationis honored to have Slim as the official starter and our Grand Marshal August 17th at Mooresville Dragwayfor the 7th stop on the SEGA 2019 tour.
See Slim in one of the pics below kicking the cars off the line, he really got into his job.