Question:   Tell us a little about your motorsports experience?

Harmon:   In Junior high school I became obsessed with the Indy 500.   While attending college I worked my way into the Indycar series through the ladder series of Skip Barber Racing.   I spent three years in the fast-lane with Walker Racing, crewing for Scott Goodyear, Robby Gordon and Christian Fittipaldi.   I learned car preparation from the best in the business.   You can only finish a race with a safe and well-prepared car.   My extensive hands-on experience allowed me to join the design staff at Dan Gurney's All-American Racers.  Here I learned our sponsor EDS's Unigraphics design software and helped design wind tunnel models, fuel systems and cockpit controls for the last of the Dan Gurney Eagle chassis.   Recently, I crewed for Tony Stewart and Jaque Lazier in their respective Indy 500 efforts.

Question:   What persuaded you to join American Challenge?

Harmon:   I met Russ Wicks during the F1 weekend in Indianapolis in 2001.   Right away, I knew he understood the technical and financial obstacles in this racing related endeavor.   To demolish the current water speed record will be like winning the Indy 500 while lapping the field twice.   From a technical standpoint I would compare it to the designing and building of the Granatelli 4-wheel drive turbine powered Indycar.

Question:   What do you consider your most important contribution to the project?

Harmon:   I am utilizing my computer and design experience in the details of the craft.   The interaction of the aerodynamics and hydrodynamics is a phenomenon new to me.   Working out the intricate details of the design, such as surface modeling, composite tooling design, hardware specification and layout is an area to which I'm contributing.   With the cockpit Indycar safety structures I have designed in the past, I feel we can safely launch the 400mph American Challenge Craft into the record books.

Question:   Is there anything else you would like to add?

Harmon:   In the words of a hero of mine, racing mechanic Smokey Yunick "Forget racing names and faces.   Race the Laws of Physics.   Understand air, water, lift,....find experts in these fields.   My experience has been that you ask the best man in the field for help in a nice way and he will give it to you if he recognizes you're sincere....   The very special are not lucky, they are very special."