Nicholas Arthur Harrison (April 29, 1982 – July 21, 2019) 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 ...

crew chief, working in the role on the No. 11

Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

Kaulig Racing Kaulig Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is owned by Matt Kaulig, an owner of team sponsor LeafFilter. Kaulig Racing fields two Cup Series Chevrole ...

in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, driven by Justin Haley. Previously, Harrison had worked in the

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the 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. In 1971 ...

for Phoenix Racing.

Career

Harrison started his NASCAR career in the

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

in 2006 as crew chief for

Chad Chaffin Chad Chaffin (born July 20, 1968) is an American former stock car racing driver. Chaffin has raced in all three of NASCAR's major series. He was a two-time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA, where he met his friend, Andy Ki ...

and

Steadman Marlin Steadman Marlin (born October 29, 1980) is an American former stock car racing driver. Marlin, the son of Sterling Marlin and grandson of the late Coo Coo Marlin, made his NASCAR debut in 2000. Racing career Busch Series Marlin made his NASCAR d ...

. In 2010, Harrison joined Phoenix Racing as crew chief for

Landon Cassill Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Early career Cassill was born in Cedar R ...

, and also worked with

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. ...

during the season. The following season, Cassill,

Mike Bliss Michael Duane Bliss (born April 5, 1965) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A journeyman NASCAR competitor and the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, he has run in all three national series. Racing career Bliss began ...

Boris Said Boris Said III (born September 18, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang for MBM Motorsports and in the Trans-Am Series, driving the No. 2 ...

and

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

worked with Harrison. In 2012, Harrison worked with

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

until the final six weeks of the season, in which Busch left the team for

Furniture Row Racing Furniture Row Racing (FRR) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2018. The team was owned and sponsored by Furniture Row, a U.S. furniture store chain, and was based in Furniture R ...

, and was replaced by Regan Smith. As of the 2013 AAA 400, Harrison had served as crew chief for eleven different drivers during the season, all of whom drove for Phoenix Racing:

A. J. Allmendinger Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger's professi ...

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver and reality TV show actor. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. ...

, Brendan Gaughan,

Owen Kelly Owen Kelly (born 12 March 1977) is an Australian professional racing driver. Son of Chas Kelly, he has competed over the course of his career in V8 Supercars and NASCAR among other series. Racing career Kelly started his circuit racing career ...

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various ot ...

, Bobby Labonte, Regan Smith,

Ryan Truex Ryan M. Truex (born March 18, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex's older brother Martin was the 2017 ...

, Mike Bliss,

Justin Allgaier Justin M. Allgaier (born June 6, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. He is the 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series champion a ...

, and Michael McDowell. In the Nationwide Series, Harrison also served as crew chief for Ryan Newman in 2010, Landon Cassill and

Jamie McMurray James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for ''Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 b ...

in 2011, Kurt Busch in 2012 and 2013, along with

Jeremy Clements Jeremy Wayne Clements (born January 16, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the son of Tony Clements, owner of Clements Racing Engines. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 51 Chevrole ...

in 2013. With Harrison, Busch won the 2012

Subway Jalapeño 250 The Wawa 250 Powered By Coca-Cola is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that is held at Daytona International Speedway. Scheduled as a race, it is held the night before the NASCAR Cup Series' Coke Zero Sugar 400, and was run on Independence Day weeke ...

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...

. Harrison also worked with Busch in the

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

in 2012 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 ...

in the

Jeff Foxworthy's Grit Chips 200 The Fr8Auctions 208 is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was initially held from 2004 until 2012 and taken off the schedule in 2013. The race returned to the schedule in 2015 and since then has been held o ...

for

Billy Ballew Motorsports Billy Ballew Motorsports was a team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were formed in 1996 by Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia businessman Billy Ballew. Fasscore Motorsports In 2003, Ballew began running a second truck u ...

, finishing tenth. In October 2013, Harrison announced that he was leaving Phoenix Racing following the

Hollywood Casino 400 The Hollywood Casino 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. This race is the second of ten races in the Cup Series playoffs; since 2022, it is the second race of the Round of 16. NBC has the ...

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in the Village West area near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also held races at the venue until 2011 ...

, joining

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

to act as crew chief for the team's No. 33

in the Nationwide Series, replacing

Ernie Cope Ernie Cope (born July 17, 1969) is currently the competition director at JTG Daugherty Racing. He is a former American stock car racing crew chief and a former competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Craftsman Truck Series and Winston West ...

. He joined the No. 3 team in 2015. Harrison moved to

's No. 11 car, driven by Justin Haley, in 2019.

Death

On July 21, 2019, Harrison died at age 37 of acute intoxication from

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

oxycodone Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...

and alcohol. His death was ruled accidental. He had suffered from multiple health issues including

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

, and

sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep occur more often than normal. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many times ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Nick 1982 births 2019 deaths People from Columbia, Tennessee NASCAR crew chiefs Sportspeople from Tennessee