Gavin Harlien’s racing career began one afternoon about five years ago when he and dad Chris sat in the grandstand at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, and watched the Junior Karts drivers compete in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
“We just saw a race and thought it would be cool,” Harlien said. “We were like ‘hey, let’s try this.’ So we went and bought one and we were racing the next weekend and it’s just carried on from there because it was so much fun.”
Harlien was 11 when he began his rookie season in both Junior 1 and Junior 2 Karts in 2011. He’s 15 now, an aspiring football wide receiver for Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona, and a Pro Lite truck driver in Lucas Oil’s short course off road racing series, which he said is “way more fun.”
It’s more fun when you’re doing well, of course, and Harlien is. When he started racing Junior Karts against others in his age group it still was like diving into the deep end before knowing if you could swim because he hadn’t raced at all before that.
Harlien had some success his first year in Junior 1, with one third, four top 5s and a seventh in the point standings, and made two exploratory starts in Junior 2. He made an even bigger jump in 2012 and finished the season with five top 5s, a sixth in the points and Rookie of the Year honors in the Modified Karts class. The next year was even better. Harlien won three times and had eight top 5s en route to fifth in the Mod Kart standings.
That brings us to last season, when Harlien stepped up to play with the older kids in the Pro Lite class. He said he could have stayed with the Mod Karts for a while longer, but he and his dad decided it made more sense to make the change. He said the move wasn’t intimidating, either, because “Mod Karts are a lot similar to Pro Lites. They’re both rear-wheel drive, just a bigger scale but the same truck, so it really prepared me and it didn’t take me long to pick up.”
Harlien was named Rookie of the Year in the extremely competitive class by virtue of 10 top 10 finishes in the 15 championship races and a seventh-place finish in the point standings. Then he capped the season with a second in the Pro Lite Challenge Cup. He said he was “absolutely” satisfied with his year.
“Coming out my first year we started out looking for top 10s and then it turned into top 5s and by the end of the year I was able to get a podium in the Challenge Cup, the biggest race of the year,” Harlien said.
“The biggest accomplishment was Rookie of the Year, just being consistent, in the top 10 and top 5 all year and being seventh in the points. There were some good rookies out there. There were about 5 or 6 rookies all battling for that Rookie of the Year and I ended up on top.
“I’m really pumped on that, really pumped on that second in the Challenge Cup, and hopefully that confidence will carry over this year.”
So far, the season has been a struggle. Harlien debuted a new Keith Stamper Dodge for the season-opening weekend at Lake Elsinore (California) Motorsports Park and had a pair of 14th-place finishes while dealing with new-car gremlins. On the second weekend, at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, he showed his and the truck’s potential with a fifth on the first day, but got caught up in several incidents and finished 19th on the second day.
Those results have left him 15th in the standings as the series prepares for its Memorial Day weekend (May 30-31) at Lake Elsinore, but haven’t shaken his confidence or his belief in his future in racing.
“Off road is definitely what I love the most,” the Mesa, Arizona, resident said. “If other opportunities presented themselves that would be cool. But ultimately if I could just have a solid career in off road racing that would be my main goal.”
GAVIN HARLIEN AT A GLANCE
Age: 15 (20 August 1999)
Lives in: Mesa, Arizona
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Student; attends Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona
Car number: 55 Pro Lite
Type of chassis: Keith Stamper Dodge
Engine: Nogrady Dodge
Crew Chief: Kenny Garrison
Sponsors: GoPro, A3 Bars, DVS, UltraWheels, DOC 360
Years in racing: 5
Divisions raced: Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro Lite, Modified Karts, Junior 2 Karts, Junior 1 Karts
Series points standings: 7 Pro Lite, Rookie of the Year (2014); 5 Modified Karts (2013), 6 Modified Karts, Rookie of the Year (2012), 23 Junior 2 Karts, 7 Junior 1 Karts (2011)
