Sad News

[CCARVER]

Chris passed away on 9-3-2007. I have copied the emails from our local board for all to read.
I will post up arrangements when they are set. His sister is flying in today to make those arrangements.

Chris Harris was a longtime member and past officer of CENLA. Recently, he choose a different region for his "region of record" to be able to compete in a S.E. Division member only racing championship. Chris continued to come to CENLA meetings and his camaraderie with us was always appreciated.

As explained in Tom Miller's note below, Chris died today.

Some of you will remember that Chris provided the tow truck for our trailer at a number of autocross events a few years ago even though he did not typically complete. Hopefully, many of you have the same fond memories that Gayle and I due of the "Racer's Corner" column that he often wrote for our newsletter about members' road racing activities including his own.

Chris joined SCCA in 04 04/1975, so he had been an SCCA member for 32 years! He will be missed.

We lost Chris Harris today. He had an infection, probably from his previous heart surgery, that shut his kidneys down.
Funeral arrangements are pending. Jack Butler has been kind enough to keep me informed.

Chris was a good friend, and a long time CENLA member. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Tom

Godspeed Harris Godspeed

[flaboy]

GOD SPEED CHRIS!!!!
You will be missed.


Tim Martin

[zracre]

Chris will be dearly missed. He was a good friend of mine. He was a great warm hearted man.

Godspeed Chris

[CDS]

I am so sad to hear this. I was just getting to know Chris. He was a great guy, always generous with help and advice for a newbie racer like me. I will miss him.

[BlueStreak]

:(

A sad day indeed. Chris was a really fun person, and a fun person to race with. The world needs more people like him.

Godspeed Chris

[DavidM]

Very sad news. I really only knew Chris from the couple times I've been to the ARRC, but his hospitality and generosity were part of what made going to the ARRC fun. He will be missed. May he rest in peace.

David

[IPRESS]

Hate to hear about Chris. He was a strong voice for IT (Regional) racers. Never one to back down from an issue, he really will be missed. He was a big help in our Div and others as he seemed to not mind a long tow for a good race with good people. I have heard him say several times that it was the people at the race that made it a good event. I think he had lots of friends throughout SEDIV, MIDDIV, and SOWDIV.
Big loss to IT.

[tdw6974]

Our thoughts are with his Family. T Weaver and family if someone that has access to an Obituary please post it when available.

[Greg Amy]

Yeah, this has been going through my mind, too, since yesterday. We're all the lesser for his death.

[CCARVER]

His sister flew in last night to start making arrangements.
I will post up everything as soon as I get it.
God just needed someone who could carry speed through the corners.
Godspeed Harris, Godspeed

[Chris Wire]

This is sad news indeed. While I never personally met Chris, I did enjoy his input on the board. He sounded like an enjoyable racer to be around.

Prayers to his family and friends.

[Jakester]

Very sad to hear of Chris' passing. We did lose one of the good 'uns.

Jake Davis
SOWDIV

[CCARVER]

Visitation Friday night (9-7-07) from 5:00-8:00pm at Rabenhorst East on Florida Blvd.
Visitation Saturday morning (9-8-08) from 8:30-9:00am at Broadmoor Methodist Church on the corner of Sharp and Mollylea (which is right off of Florida Blvd). Service starts at 9:00am at the church, with graveside services at Resthaven Gardens on Old Jefferson Highway (just off of Airline Hwy. S).

This is indeed sad. We saw him everyday at the hospital and thought the doctors would be able to figure out something...but nothing they tried worked...they were truly mystified as to why he didn't respond to any treatment. An autopsy was done but we don't know the results, yet.

[CCARVER]

Christopher Thomas "Chris" Harris
A resident of Baton Rouge and a retired lab technician for a local chemical company, he died at 3:46 p.m. Monday, Sept. 3, 2007, at Baton Rouge General Medical Center-Bluebonnet. He was 58 and a native of Lubbock, Texas. Visiting at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd., on Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitation will resume at Broadmoor United Methodist Church on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until religious service at 9 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Ken Carroll. Burial will follow in Resthaven Gardens of Memory. He is survived by a sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Richard Bitters; two nieces, Kira Shirer and Jennifer Bitters, and great-niece, Isabella Rose Shirer, all of Green Bay, Wis.; and life companion, Brian Calhoun, of Baton Rouge. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas C. and Aretta McCoy Harris. He was a member of Broadmoor United Methodist Church, the Sports Car Club of America and NOBBTSC. Memorial donations may be sent to the American Heart Association. Chris loved life, sports car racing, his family and friends.

[CCARVER]

I wanted to share with you how I met Chris Harris.
He would write an article for out local news letter. I have attached his last one.
Godspeed Harris, Godspeed.

THE RACER’S CORNER: Chris Harris August 2004
You know, kitty litter can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. To the cat lover, it's a necessary evil to absorb what a cat no longer needs to function. To a sloppy mechanic, kitty litter is a valuable tool to absorb errant fluids from a car and it's oozing cavities. And to a race car driver, "kitty litter" is the pool of gravel at particularly dangerous corners to stop a race car that has, for one reason of another, decided to leave the racing surface and propel itself towards an even more dangerous area.
Gary, Jack, Stephen Trenery, and I made the trip to the new Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama last month. We had intended to go last year, but since Edith, the little engine that could, passed away, we were still in mourning. That means...no go, no show. This year we had made it a plan that we would keep.
Jack had gone to a Porsche driving school at the track in June, so he was a wealth of information on the nuances of the course. One of his comments was that the course was very technical and somewhat tight. He also said that the grounds and the facilities were awesome. He couldn't have been more accurate on either account. The course is designed for motorcycle racing rather than cars, but is more than sufficient for either. In fact, there have also been several professional auto races held there along with a few professional go kart races, besides motorcycle races. The grounds and facilities were indeed, absolutely beautiful. The course is sculpted from a valley cupped in the hands of the hills surrounding the Talledega National Forest. To say that it is "awesome" is a little too NASCAR. Even the restrooms are in the three star hotel category. There is air conditioning where others have fans. There are elevators where others have stairs. And there are stairs where others have no need. All around are sculptures, lighting, walkways, and gates. Everything, and I do mean everything is built and designed for a purpose, and that purpose is to be beautifully functional. No plant is there by accident. It was either left in place during the excavation or planted there by a master landscape architect. No bare spots in the grass here. It has a complete staff of attendants, janitors, grounds keepers, security, etc. The price to build and develop that I heard was in excess of $100 million. Kind of dwarfs the effort of the dedicated ITC driver.
We met up with some of our racing buddies for a weekend of fun, B.S., and racing. From the start, we knew we were in for a challenge. For Gary, the other two of the fastest ITC car/driver combos in the country were in attendance. For me, it was a chance to race with the big boys in a field of eleven cars. From the outset, we knew things were going to have to change as the SCCA rules would only allow 58 cars on the course at one time, and our group had 72 entries. Even the ITS and ITA group had 60 drivers entered. By race time the order of natural selection had taken place due to no shows and breakage, and our groups had been trimmed down to the maximum 58. As an aside, this is an opportunity to lobby against cloning. There are now way more Mazdas racing in Spec Miata than have ever been built by the factory. I have it on good information that this is verifiable fact. And they are driven by three types of drivers...the blindingly fleet, the half-fast, and the slugs. Sadly, the course was not designed with Gary's car, and it's horsepower curve in mind. Short straight's and tight turns are not his forte'. For my car, the course was great, but, as always, Judas was there, so that sort of screwed the pooch.
Our first session was run for two complete laps behind the pace car to familiarize us with the course. Rather like a funeral procession with open exhausts. Once we were let loose to drive at speed, I was ready to boogie...not to be. Finding myself on totally the wrong line of a blind uphill, downhill, late apex, decreasing/increasing/decreasing radius with a flat out chicane entrance and heavy brake, downshift, right/left combination onto the main straight turn...I spun...big as s.... Engine dead but no other harm done, but I waited forever until traffic cleared enough to let me back out on the track. I completed the turn to see the checkered flag that ended the session. One lap! Oh, well, I've done worse!
Qualifying wasn't much better as I drove conservatively in order to learn the track and get a time. What a time...eighteen seconds off the pole. The race began as fun with a few of us "sleds" having a good race at the rear of the field. As we hit the aforementioned turn in a tight pack, two of us, once again, got it wrong and slid off the track in a fury of dust and tire smoke. This time we both saved it, and made it look like it was choreographed. Two laps later, we repeated the same stunt at the same place. This time with much more spectacular results. I was told that on videotape the spins would have gotten a maximum Olympic score on technical, style, and originality. At one time or another, we were side by side, nose to tail, nose to nose, and tail to tail...on and off the track. At least three different times I saw and felt us hit, but we never touched. I ended up headed the right way with the engine running so I beat-feet in pursuit of the pack. The other guy stalled, so I picked up a position. My race was done and my position set for a couple of laps until, at the same turn, the car I was chasing went off and hit the wall. One more position. Finishing sixth and having taken nine seconds off my lap time, I accepted the result.
After some hair pulling, gnashing of teeth, and self abusing, we made some positive changes to both our cars. Sunday, Gary and I were primed for a good qualifying session. Gary ran better, but so did the competition. They simply had the horses for the course. I got in a race for qualifying that worked for me, for once, and I took another three seconds off my best time. Now we were getting to the point where we could actually see the other ITC cars on the track. The start of the race was not one of my better ones, but some of what I had planned did indeed work, and I remained in touch with the ITC field and pulled away from those behind me. One of the best passes of my life occurred at the end of the front straight and a left hand kink where the track simply falls out from under you. Even though it didn't stick, and the guy got back around me two turns later, he had to work so hard to do it, that he missed his braking point, and I passed him again. Judas was to have nothing of my fun and held me back so that I could be re-passed. A pretty bad accident put the field under the pace car for four laps, which broke my momentum. The restart saw me lose contact and get passed by two of the slug Miatas. In an attempt to regain position, I tried a late braking maneuver, which had been shaky in the past laps. No good! Locked brakes, greasy tires, left, right, backwards, straight, then sideways...into the kitty litter...buried to the tub...wheels dangling in the rocks...four laps from the end of the race. As I got out of my stranded car, my competition passed me and waived a robust "thank you". I had to settle for a next to last finish and the contentment that I had taken another second off my fastest time during the race. Oh well, we did have fun and learned a lot about how to drive. My final lap times improved by almost 13 seconds from the first qualifying session to the fastest race lap. Have to be content with that.
Next stop...Sebring, Florida...home to some of the most famous sports car racing in the United States racing history. The new carburetor is finally here, and we are preparing to do battle like never before. Nothing but blue sky, great apexes, and checkered flags ahead.

[zracre]

thank you for posting that! It is nice to remember someone with their work...he is a great writer and an enthusiastic soul...he will be greatly missed but always remembered.

[mom'sZ]

Nothing but blue sky, great apexes, and checkered flags ahead.
[/b]
ahhh... that kinda brought a tear to my eyes

[CCARVER]

I just got home from the services.
The services were very nice.
Chris was a great person and a great friend.
He will be missed dearly.
Godspeed Harris, Godspeed
Carver