OCALA, Fla. (Feb. 24) — Another night on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, another podium finish for Clay Harris.

The Jupiter, Fla., driver entered 2026 with just three top-five finishes across his previous two full seasons on tour. Four races into Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, he’s already matched that number and then some. | RaceWire

Harris is thinking the same thing he assumes everyone else is: How long can he keep this going?

“I don't know how long it's going to last because it don't last forever for everybody,” the 24-year-old Harris said following Tuesday's third-place outing on opening night of the Wieland Winternationals at Ocala Speedway. “So just trying to keep at it and not lose that position.”

Needless to say, Harris could’ve easily had a run of four straight podium finishes should he have avoided crashing into the treacherous turn two wall at All-Tech running second in the closing of laps of last Thursday’s Lucas Oil opener.

“I knew we were going to be a little bit better this year, but I didn’t think we were going to be this good right out of the gate, so that’s a plus,” Harris said. “Hopefully I can keep carrying it on and not lose no speed.”

Lucas Oil Series standouts Devin Moran and Brandon Overton have taken notice of Clay Harris’s steady improvement. Moran, Tuesday’s winner at Ocala, said Harris’s surge isn’t simply because there’s a strong piece underneath him.

“I was just talking to someone today, not only is his car fast, but he’s actually doing a really, really good job driving the race car,” Moran said. “You can kind of watch and see, it’s not like he’s going around there as fast as he can. He’s making calculated decisions and putting himself in spots you need to. They’re doing a good job.

“It’s cool to see people like that run good — as long as they’re right behind me,” Moran added with a laugh.

Overton, who ran nose-to-tail behind Harris for virtually the entire distance Tuesday — the final 29 of 30 laps — was especially impressed with the Floridian’s poise under pressure in lapped traffic. A driver who takes pride in performing well in his native Georgia, Overton said he’s happy to see Harris doing the same in his home state of Florida.

“I think it's cool. … This is where he should shine, you know what I mean? I should shine in Georgia. Like when we go off, when we have to race in everybody else's backyard. So I'm happy, you know what I mean? It's good,” Overton said. “It’s good for everyone in Florida who's watched Clay grow up and all the supporters to watch him come shine at his hometown tracks. So I think that's cool. And yeah, he's doing a hell of a job. You can't take it away from him. The car is fast. He keeps putting himself up front. So, yeah, he has something going on.”

Overton tried multiple grooves throughout Tuesday’s feature — high, low and everything in between — but couldn’t shake Harris from third. Two moments in traffic, in particular, showcased Harris’s composure: first, on lap 15, when he pinned his Longhorn Chassis to the bottom around a slower car entering turn three to create separation; and again with five laps remaining, when Harris boldly swept around the outside of another slower car in turn two before racing back to the bottom entering turn three with control.

“I think that just goes back to, I think he's comfortable here, you know what I mean?” Overton said. “Like, he's comfortable here. He comfortable at All-Tech. So it makes you calm down inside the car. You make the right decisions when you're calm. So, yeah, it's just the nature of the beast, you know what I mean? Racing where you like to be at and where you're from. So he can go out there and show us why he's racing with us.”

While Harris would’ve liked to keep pace with Moran and Brandon Sheppard, he acknowledged that improving his car’s maneuverability in traffic is the next step toward becoming a more viable contender this week.

“I couldn't get around lapped traffic. I don't think Devin and Sheppy had a hard time, you know, in lapped traffic,” said Harris, who added that “coming off the corners, I really wasn't that great.”

“So I was trying to slow it down and keep my own pace. I knew it was going to be really hard to pass,” he continued. “So anybody that got around me was gonna have to, you know, drive the wheels off of it just to get around you. I know we'll be better tomorrow. I guess Sheppy lost the lead because of lapped traffic. I thought for a second there maybe I was able to run them down, but I was just way too free. It feels great to be up front for a little while, at least.”

After last Thursday’s near-miss at All-Tech Raceway, Harris kept his outlook positive for the remainder of Speedweeks, buoyed by the support behind him.

On the crew side, Josh Raymond and Kameron McGauley return full time this season, with Chad Dishman joining the team through the March 7 Speedweeks finale at Golden Isles. A year after nursing a single serviceable open-competition engine through Speedweeks, Harris arrived in Florida with five race-ready engines, plus a sixth on order. It’s a luxury that’s allowed him to drive with greater freedom and confidence.

Still, contending for wins on a night-after-night basis is new territory. Harris continues to search for the balance between patience and knowing when it’s time to fully commit to a winning push. Either way, he’s knocking harder than ever on the door of a first national touring victory.

“You just drive as hard as you can, but, like, sometimes, like after that first night, I learned, I was, like, ‘I could be leading the points right now if I just would have calmed down,’” Harris said. “But at the same time, I was just like, we still got a couple more races, and then you got a couple more drops. So if I'm in that position again, I'm gonna try to take it. Like a second the other night (at All-Tech), I was good. And I was a lot more patient that second night, but with five laps to go, I just drove as far as I could then and I waited a little bit longer.

“Sometimes I try to go a little too early. Like Batesville last year (for the Topless 100 at the Locust Grove, Ark.-based Batesville Motor Speedway), I was running pretty good. I think I got up to third in that 100-lapper, and I was starting to drive it too hard, too early. Like, it was 30 laps ago, and I should’ve done it, (drove harder), with 10 to 15 laps to go. But now I know … that's what I gotta do.”