Marvin "Harris" DeVane Jr. (August 2, 1963 – March 1, 2018) was an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver. He competed in the

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

, scoring his only career series victory in one of the closest finishes in series history at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

Personal life

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

farmer and a native of

Cuthbert, Georgia Cuthbert is a city in, and the county seat of, Randolph County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,520 in 2019. History Cuthbert was founded by European Americans in 1831 as seat of the newly formed Randolph County, after Indian Remo ...

, DeVane attended Randolph Southern School and is a graduate of

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is a public college in Tifton, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and offers baccalaureate and associate degrees. The college is named after Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the Uni ...

Racing career

DeVane began racing in 1978 at Albany Motor Speedway. Moving to touring series competition in the early 1990s, he made 59 starts in the ARCA Racing Series between 1994 and 1998. In 1995 he won the series' Bill France Four Crown Award, given to the driver with the best finishes on each of the types of tracks (superspeedway, road course, short track, and dirt track) the series competes on, and was the series' co-Rookie of the Year; after fellow rookie

Andy Hillenburg Andrew Hillenburg (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current team owner and track owner. His race team, Fast Track Racing, fields multiple cars in the ARCA Menards Series and formerly fielded entr ...

became ineligible for the rookie title due to winning the series championship, he was tied with Dill Whittymore, and the series chose to equally award the title to both drivers. He also won the series' Most Popular Driver award that season. DeVane scored one win in the ARCA Racing Series, at

in 1997. It was the first race run on the track's current configuration; he led only the last of the final lap of the race, moving from third to first to beat Andy Hillenburg and

Frank Kimmel Francis James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, from 1990 through 2016. Kimmel is the most successful driver in ARCA history. He has won the ARCA champions ...

by 0.023 seconds. DeVane also competed on a limited basis in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

competition; in 1994, he attempted to qualify for a Busch Series Grand National Division event at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

, but failed to make the field. He also attempted to qualify for two

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

races, both at Atlanta Motor Speedway: his first attempt at making his debut in the series was at the NAPA 500 in the fall of 1998, with his second attempt at the

Cracker Barrel 500 The Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race that was run annually each March at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia from 1960 to 2010 and as a July race since 2021. The race was the first of two race ...

in the spring of 1999; however, he failed to qualify for either event. He was hospitalized after crashing during his second-round qualifying attempt for the NAPA 500, and withdrew before second-round qualifying in 1999 due to a lack of speed.

Death

DeVane died on March 1, 2018, after a brief illness at age 54.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

Busch Series

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:DeVane, Harris 1963 births 2018 deaths People from Cuthbert, Georgia Farmers from Georgia (U.S. state) Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers