A year ago, if you’d told a Pro Mod racer he might have two legitimate shots at a million dollars inside of six months, he’d have laughed you out of the pits. Not out of disrespect. Out of disbelief. That’s just not the world we’ve lived in.
Well, that’s the world Jason Harris is living in right now.
Harris earned his first crack at a million at our Drag Illustrated Winter Series, chasing the Elite Motorsports Million – a clean-sweep bonus for any driver who could win all three of our races. And now, with the new IHRA Triple Crown, he’s got another seven-figure opportunity sitting right there in front of him. Two swings at life-changing money before the calendar even turns. For a Pro Mod racer. Let that sink in.
I couldn’t be happier about it. And I’ll tell you exactly why.
For too long, money was the thing nobody in drag racing wanted to talk about. We whispered about payouts. We were almost embarrassed by them. Meanwhile, the American Cornhole League is handing out eight million dollars a year, a hot dog eating contest is paying six figures on Netflix, and there are rock-paper-scissors tournaments paying out more than some of our professional national events. That’s not a knock on cornhole. It’s a wake-up call for us.
We all know what these guys and gals are spending. We know what it takes to build one of these cars, to tune it, to haul it across the country and put it on the property week after week. These are the baddest door cars on earth, driven by some of the most talented people in all of motorsports. The idea that the money shouldn’t match the spectacle never made sense to me. So we set out to change the conversation. To make the money something racers and fans were excited to talk about, proud to talk about – not afraid of, not embarrassed by.
That was the whole point of the Elite Motorsports Million. We weren’t just putting up a prize. We were planting a flag.
And here’s the part I’m most proud of: the conversation is actually changing. When you see another sanctioning body step up and put real money on the table for Pro Mod, that’s not something to be territorial about. That’s the tide coming in. That’s the whole sport getting louder about what these racers are worth. I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it again – a high tide lifts all boats. More money in Pro Mod means more attention, more media, more sponsors looking at our world and deciding it’s worth investing in. Everybody wins when we start acting like we’re worth it.
Now, let’s talk about the man himself, because Jason Harris is exactly the kind of racer you want carrying this moment.
Since his dominating win at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals late last year, Harris has become arguably the biggest name and the toughest out in Pro Mod. He’s not backing into these opportunities. He’s earning them, round after round, against the deepest fields and the best tuners our class has ever seen. When he rolls into the lights, everybody in the other lane knows they’ve got their work cut out for them. That’s what makes him so much fun to watch, and that’s what makes this whole thing feel real.
Will it be easy? Hell no. We’re talking about stringing together round win after round win in the most competitive class in the world, where one tenth of hesitation or one bad set of conditions ends your day. That’s what makes it so exciting. If somebody pulls this off, they don’t just win a million dollars. They become an icon. A legend. The way Bill Elliott became “Million Dollar Bill” and dragged NASCAR into the national conversation. These are the moments that birth superstars and define legacies.
And here’s the thing: I genuinely believe Jason Harris can do it. Not as a feel-good line. I mean it. He’s got the car, the team, the focus, and the kind of momentum you can’t manufacture. He’s racing like a man who knows exactly how big these moments are.
So I’m going to be watching every round, pulling for him, and grinning like a kid the whole way.
A Pro Mod racer with two shots at a million dollars in six months. That’s not a fantasy anymore. That’s where this sport is headed.
And that, to me, is worth every single dollar.
This story was originally published on June 25, 2026. 
The post Op-Ed: Jason Harris Has a Second Shot at a Million Dollars – and I Think He Can Do It first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
