Dad, son ready to hit road

Hollis Harris and his son Dan Harris, will drive a 1935 Oldsmobile 4,000 miles cross-country along with 111 classic cars taking part in The Great Race June 17-30, an event that will be telecast on The History Channel.

Hollis Harris, owner of a Pahrump real estate company that bears his name, said the Oldsmobile was owned by his grandfather, who bought it for $910. Harris said his grandfather lived in Tulare, Calif. Dan Harris said the car eventually wound up in the hands of his cousin who was going to sell it. A friend, Al Jones, restored the vehicle, which had sat in the sun for 10 years, Dan Harris said.

A year ago, Dan Harris said he saw a program on television about The Great Race. The Harrises entered into a regional race with a Model A, a three-day practice rally at Palm Springs, Calif.

"We were lucky enough to come in first in the rookie division. After that, we were hooked. That was the most fun we'd had in a long time," Dan Harris said.

The Great Race started in 1983 with a rally for pre-World War II vehicles from Los Angeles to Indianapolis, offering $250,000 in prize money. It is intended to pass through places of significance to Americans like Disneyland or Mount Rushmore.

"This race starts in Atlanta and we end up in Pasadena (Calif.)," Dan Harris said. "It's a timed rally. It's not how fast you go between point A and point B, it's how accurate you get going from point A to point B. That's just the right minute and second. Some of the guys who win the race will come within zero, one, two, three seconds of the ideal time."

Racers are prohibited from using a watch with a stopwatch or digital watch, anything that will record time, although the Harrises could install a clock on the dash on the passenger side of their vehicle. The odometer is also blacked out. Race crews check drivers at a few places during the day.

"They'll tell you to be at a certain point at a certain time," Dan Harris said. "Each car leaves a minute apart. They give you a detailed set of instructions."

The thick booklet lists instructions like arrive at a curve doing 45 mph, keep going 36 seconds, then go to 50 mph.

"The trick to the whole thing is to accomplish these maneuvers and know how much time we lost," Dan Harris said. "You never know where the checkpoint is. There's several checkpoints a day."

"The guys that are good at it know exactly where they are at any time," he said.

The route first goes northeast with an overnight stop in Greensville, S.C., then west to Knoxville, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; St. Louis, Mo.; Kansas City, Mo.; Salina, Kan.; down to Farmington, N.M.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; San Bernardino, Calif. and Pasadena. Much of the route will follow along Interstate 70.

Dan Harris said when the cars arrive at their final destination, there will be a parade along Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena's main street where the Rose Bowl Parade is held. A U.S. Navy band from Washington, D.C., will perform at every nightly stop, he said.

The closest they will come to Pahrump is an overnight stop in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and a drive through Laughlin June 28. Hollis Harris said a contingent from Pahrump will watch them drive through the tri-state area.

"We'll still probably be in the race by then," Dan Harris said. But he said the motto of the race is, "to finish is to win." Results will be posted daily on the Web site www.greatrace.com.

"Dad's going to be the driver and I'm the navigator," Dan Harris said. "Top speed is 50 mph so it's not based on speed at all. Do your instructions and you'll do fine. We'll be car No. 56."

Dan Harris said they don't anticipate anything going wrong, but just in case, their support vehicle, driven by relatives Don Harris and Don Webster, will have spare parts like a water pump, distributor, brake shoes, points and plugs, fan belt and clutch.

"They can't help us at all during the day. During the day, we're basically on our own to get it fixed," Dan Harris said.

Forty of the 111 vehicles entered are in the rookie class the Harrises will be participating in. First place in that division wins $1,000, but they said that wouldn't pay for all their expenses.

Dan Harris said, "That's OK, we're not in it to try to make money. What a chance for us to have fun together."

Several teams of high school shop classes are entered, that winning team gets a $25,000 contribution to their school library.

"Those cars go through a lot over 4,000 miles," Hollis Harris said. "The towns we go through -- there's 44 towns, they turn out tremendously."

The cars listed in the program for last year included a 1916 American LaFrance Speedster, a 1927 Hispano Sueza Phaeton, a 1931 Ford Model A Roadster and a 1937 Buick Roadmaster.