Pro Modified’s first million-dollar prize will have to wait at least another year, as Snowbird Outlaw Nationals winner Jason Harris’s attempt at the inaugural Elite Motorsports Million came to an end Sunday when he lost in the second round at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission at Bradenton Motorsports Park. After winning the Snowbirds, Harris needed to win the other two races in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, the U.S. Street Nationals and the DI World Series of Pro Mod, to win the $1 million bonus from Elite Motorsports.
Harris was understandably dejected after his second-round loss to Derek Menholt, but he also recognized the odds were against him.
“I think we all looked at the Million when it first came out and thought it’s not feasible, but then I think when you actually get in the seat where you think you can do it, then it is feasible,” Harris said. “It’s not like I lost it by a thousandth. I lost it by a lot of rounds. I had to go 10 more rounds to be perfect [after the Snowbirds], so everything had to be perfect. Car had to be perfect. I had to be perfect. That’s going to be a hard feat. Is it impossible? No, but it’s a very, very hard task.”
By qualifying No. 1 at the Snowbirds, Harris was also contending for the Jerry Bickel Race Cars Clean Sweep Challenge, which offered up a brand-new Pro Mod rolling chassis for any driver who could qualify No. 1 at all three races. Harris ended up No. 2 on the final qualifying order for the U.S. Street Nationals with a 3.556 at 2111.33 behind Jimmy Taylor’s 3.555 at 224.77.
Once qualifying was over, Harris came out swinging. He drew former PDRA Pro Nitrous rival Jim Halsey in the opening round. Harris unleashed a .009 reaction time and a 3.547 at 211.89 – second-quickest of the round – to get past Halsey, who lifted to a 5.443. He was aggressive again in the second round against Menholt, leaving first with a .017 to Menholt’s .037. Harris’s Harts Charger-boosted “Party Time” ’69 Camaro was ahead at the 60-foot mark, but he lost traction and coasted to a 5.156 while Menholt ran a 3.565, eventually reaching the final round.
Just like that, the dream was over. Never before had Harris raced for so much on the line, and similarly, losing the round stung a little more than the average second-round loss.
“I’ve had a lot of pressure on me this weekend,” Harris admitted. “Losing No. 1 by a couple thousandths hurt. I lost a lot of money this weekend. I lost $12,000 for No. 1 and Off the Trailer bonuses. I lost a $250,000 race car, and I lost a million dollars and $75,000 for winning here. I feel like Vegas has kicked my butt this weekend. But, it is what it is.”
Harris wasn’t sulking for too long after the second-round exit. He was back in the Strange Engineering VIP Tent for the third-round chip draw to support teammate John Doc, who ended up losing to Menholt as well in the quarterfinals. Harris noted that he’s already moving on to the Winter Series finale, the World Series of Pro Mod, Feb. 26-28, at Bradenton.
“We’ve got a great team. We just missed it a little bit. That’s all it is,” Harris said. “When you’re running mid-.50s, and with the competition you’ve got right now, you’ve got to keep it at the fastest possible. Maybe we got a little greedy there, but that’s something you don’t really see out of my team, shaking the tires like that. I’ve been driving great. I feel like I was on my game. We win as a team, lose as a driver, but this weekend, we’re gonna pick ourselves back up, come back to the World Series, and I’m looking forward to that because that’s one I’d like to put on my resume.”
This story was originally published on January 29, 2026. 
