Harry Jeffery becomes the 2nd member of the 2013 class to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, fourth overall. Unlike the three previous inductees, Harry never raced in the either the Nationwide or Truck series, instead just focusing on his Cup career. It has been quite an impressive career in the Cup series too. After the 2012 season, Harry has a championship under his belt and is tied for the most wins in Cup series history. He also has made the Chase more times than any other member.
Harry joined Lucky Dog Racing at the start of the 2005 season. Those were the early days of the league, when you could just begin in the Cup series. He started a career with a 22nd place in the 2005 Daytona 500. It was nothing to be too excited about but sometimes it can be a great feat to escape Daytona without finishing at the bottom. He would follow that up with a 3rd place run the following race.
Harry would get his first of many victories at Auto Club Speedway (then known as California Speedway) in September of that year. He made the Chase in his rookie season and would finish in a very respectable 11th place. These days that would be challenging for the rookie of the year title but back then were so many rookies in the field. Seven of them made the Chase alone including Greg Miller who won the championship.
His second season was similar to his first; he made the Chase again and finished in 12th place. He also recorded another win at New Hampshire.
The next two seasons were a bit of a struggle for Harry, missing the Chase both times. In 2007 he suffered his worst season by finishing in 33rd place. After that season he really righted himself and has not finished outside the top 15 yet. He missed the Chase in 2008 but finished in a more respectable 14th place. He also had his first multi-win season with victories at Talladega and Phoenix. He also teamed up with Ed Blackman to form SOCAL Sprint Car Assoc. when the multi-car team format began.
In 2009 he won at Michigan and Phoenix again, he also made the Chase after a 2 year absence. He had his best career season after finishing in 7th place. He would top that in 2010 with his first top 5 finish along with a victory at Vegas.
In 2011 he really broke through with the high point of his career. He had a very strong performance all year long, amassing three victories, 8 top 5's and 13 top 10's. He became just the 2nd player to reach 10 wins in the cup series. He made the Chase again and went on to win his first Cup series championship. He finished with the best race points and picks average. He also became the final player to win the Power Gauge championship too. During the off season, Harry even brought his trophy to the San Diego Zoo!
At the beginning of Harry's championship season, he and Ed Blackman merged with Kevin Sullivan and Greg Miller to form Coast To Coast Racing. The team ended up winning the championship which made Harry the 2nd player to win the driver's championship and team championship in the same year.
In 2012 he won his 11th career race which put him into a tie with Matt Sealey for most victories in the Cup series. He only needs one more win to break that tie. Harry made the Chase for the 4th consecutive year and finished in 7th place. During the 2012 season Harry won the All-Star race and the Chaser Eraser for the first time. Harry also raced in the LROC series for the first time as well.
Harry is still going strong after 8 seasons and is looking forward to a lot more accomplishments
Harry was voted into the Hall of Fame after a total count of 7 votes. 3 of the votes came from committee members while 4 votes came from the league (4 actual votes).
|
|
|
|
Career Highlights
2005-2012 Seasons
Cup Series
Won the Championship in 2011
Won team championship in 2011
Finished in the top 10 four times
288 starts
11 victories
42 top 5's
86 top 10's
Made the Chase six times
|
|
