Paulie Harraka

Paul Peter Harraka (born September 15, 1989) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and entrepreneur. He is a graduate of Duke University and a former representative of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program.

Personal life Harraka was born in Wayne, New Jersey to a family of Syrian descent. Harraka attended Wayne Valley High School from his freshman through junior years, but spent his senior year at Lake Norman High School to be closer to NASCAR team Joe Gibbs Racing, where he worked as an engineering and research and development intern. During this time, Harraka lived with Kenny Francis, crew chief for Kasey Kahne.

After graduating from high school with a 4.38 GPA, Harraka opted to attend Duke University, stating “I think that in the modern age of racing, knowing all aspects of the business is crucial to being successful." After beginning his studies in Mechanical Engineering, Harraka transferred to Duke's Trinity School of Arts and Sciences, where he studied Markets and Management, Sociology, and History. Harraka is one of only two NASCAR drivers with University degrees, the other being Ryan Newman.

Racing career

Early career Harraka first sat behind the wheel when he received a backyard fun kart from his family and started driving it around abandoned buildings. Harraka entered his first race on June 1, 1997, at Flemington Speedway, and despite being underage (Harraka was seven and New Jersey law required that drivers be at least eigh years old), Harraka won. In a karting career that spanned from 1997 to 2005, Harraka amassed a World Karting Association Triple Crown, the Holley Future Star Award, 13 National Championships, and six World Championships, and 158 total wins in go-karts. In 2005, he moved from kart to legends car racing, where he won multiple races.

Harraka also won a popular karting event at Mark Dismore's karting facility in Indiana, the RoboPong 200 (now known as the Dan Wheldon Cup after the 2005 winner was killed in October 2011) karting event, teamed with on-sabbatical NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd.

NASCAR

Harraka was invited to the Drive for Diversity Combine in the fall of 2006, where he impressed team owner Bill McAnally. McAnally hired Harraka to compete for his California-based team, despite Harraka still being in high school in New Jersey. Harraka traveled back and forth between New Jersey and California every weekend, and ultimately finished second in the All American Series in Roseville, California that year, winning the Rookie of the Year title. Harraka returned to the team in 2008, this time holding the duties of both driver and crew chief. The team would win eleven out of 23 races as well as the NASCAR Championship.

At the end of 2008, McAnally elected to move Harraka up to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for the final two races of the season as preparation for a full run in 2009. In the last race of the season, second race for the team, he qualified on the pole and led 40 laps.

Over the next two seasons, Harraka competed full-time for McAnally, first under the NAPA Autocare banner, then with NAPA Filters sponsorship, with crew chief Duane Knorr. The team has won three races and has fifteen top-five finishes in thirty total races. They finished fourth and third in the series championship in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with Harraka winning Rookie of the Year in 2009 and Move of the Race in 2010.

Harraka took 2011 off from racing to further his studies, but did run the K&N Pro Series West race at Infineon Raceway. For 2012, Harraka competed in the Camping World Truck Series, running for Rookie of the Year driving for Wauters Motorsports. Midway through the season, Harraka left Wauters Motorsports.

In September 2012, Harraka drove for Go Green Racing in the Nationwide Series at Richmond International Raceway. In 2013, Harraka made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway, driving the No. 52 Ford for Go Green Racing. Harraka's final NASCAR start came at Dover Motor Speedway driving for TriStar Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Harraka then retired from NASCAR to focus on business interests.

Entrepreneurship

Paulie Harraka LLC In 2011, Harraka partnered with a group of Fortune 500 CEOs, venture capitalists, and professional sports executives as a partner to launch innovative technology platforms that challenge conventional approaches to the sport and business of NASCAR. The investor group supported Harraka's NASCAR racing activities and entrepreneurial business ventures disruptive to NASCAR. In November 2013, Harraka delivered a talk chronicling his entrepreneurial ventures at TEDxBeaconStreet in Boston, making Harraka the only NASCAR driver ever to deliver a TED presentation.

Koloma, Inc Harraka went on to cofounded Koloma, Inc with Dr. Thomas Darrah, a geochemist from Ohio State University, and Pete Johnson, a clean energy entrepreneur. Koloma is "a natural hydrogen company that leverages its technology, proprietary data, and human capital advantages to identify and commercialize these resources on a global scale." Geologic Hydrogen is considered by many to be at the cutting edge of the next frontier of energy. As Chief Business Officer, Harraka leads all financial, operational, and legal functions for the company, which has raised $400 million in investment capital.

Motorsports career results NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2013 Go Green Racing 52 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH CHI NHA DOV KAN CLT TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 75th 01

Nationwide Series NASCAR Nationwide Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 2010 NEMCO Motorsports 87 Chevy DAY CAL LVS BRI NSH PHO TEX TAL RCH DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI GTY IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT GTY TEX PHO HOM 124th 76 2011 Randy Hill Racing 08 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW CLT CHI MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 130th 01 2013 Go Green Racing 79 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR CHA DOV IOW MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CHA TEX PHO HOM 85th 9 2014 TriStar Motorsports 44 Toyota DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX DAR RCH TAL IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 64th 25

Camping World Truck Series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pts Ref 2012 Wauters Motorsports 5 Ford DAY MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW CHI POC MCH BRI ATL IOW KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 28th 223

Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series West NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts Ref 2008 Paul Harraka 04 Chevy AAS PHO CTS IOW CNS SON IRW DCS EVG MMP IRW 29th 382 Bill McAnally Racing 12 Toyota AMP AAS 2009 CTS AAS PHO MAD IOW DCS SON IRW PIR MMP CNS IOW AAS 4th 1951 2010 AAS PHO IOW DCS SON IRW PIR MRP CNS MMP AAS PHO 3rd 1707 2011 PHO AAS MMP IOW LVS SON IRW EVG PIR CNS MRP SPO AAS PHO 77th 132 2013 Bill McAnally Racing 20 Toyota PHO S99 BIR IOW L44 SON CNS IOW EVG SPO MMP SMP AAS KCR PHO 50th 39

ARCA Racing Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Racing Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2012 Venturini Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH WIN NJE IOW CHI IRP POC BLN ISF MAD SLM DSF KAN 128th 100