Beaver Dragon

Competitor
CLASS OF 2004

16 year-old Harmon Dragon drove a ’41 Buick coupe to victory in the first feature race he ran. He later ran a ’37 Chevy Sportsman car with a 283, competing against the touring modifieds with their 327c.i. engines. At Catamount Stadium, Beaver became the first sportsman driver to win a race against the more powerful modifieds, beating legends like Pete Hamilton, Jerry Cook, Bugsy Stevens and Don MacTavish. He was the 1967 Sportsman Coupe Champion, the last year the track crowned such a champion.

He was crowned Northern NASCAR Circuit Champion in 1975, after finishing runner-up the 2 seasons before. He was also a 3-time Late Model Sportsman Champion at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh NY (1973, 1975 & 1980) and a two time Late Model Champion at Catamount (1979, 1983)

Dragon was one of the best on the old NASCAR North Tour. He won the first two championships (1979-1980) including 9 wins in the inaugural season. During the tour’s 7-year existence, Dragon scored 143 Top 10’s, 94 Top 5’s, and only once did he not finish in the top 6 in points.

As the American-Canadian Tour started in 1986, Dragon won 8 more times over the next decade. He finished his career on the NASCAR Busch North Series.

Beaver has competed numerous times in Grand National races. In 1974, Bob & Dick Bahre hired him to drive their Chrysler hemi powered car at Daytona. On the plane ride down, Beaver partook of “three or four beers”. Arriving at Daytona, he showed up for a physical by the track doctor, to be told his blood pressure was too high. Upon learning about the drinks on the plane, the doctor’s advice was, “Take this medicine, go back to the hotel, and don’t drink any more beer.” The following day, Beaver passed his physical with flying colors, took a 40th place provisional starting spot, and notched a solid top 20 finish on the high banks of Daytona. He drove the same car for the Bahre’s twice at Charlotte, where he also competed in a ride set up for him by Humpy Wheeler.