{"id":33984,"date":"2020-01-27T10:02:58","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T15:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=33984"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:47","slug":"one-man-operation-chris-harrigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/owners-clubs\/2020\/01\/one-man-operation-chris-harrigan.html","title":{"rendered":"One Man Operation: Chris Harrigan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being in the community for so long, I have met and\ntalked with a lot of people over the years. I have seen many come, and many go,\nbut there is one guy in particular that has been there since day one. This\nfella has been a huge supporter of Dodge, SRT\u00ae<\/sup>, the community and racers for\nover a decade. He has watched the community grow first-hand. He has witnessed\nthe brand adapt and evolve from the front row. Meet Chris Harrigan: owner,\nracer, maker, fan. Many know Chris, even more know OF<\/i> Chris. Let’s dig in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DodgeGarage: Chris,\nwhat originally drew you to the world of modern Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> vehicles?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chris<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chris Harrigan: Mine was one of pure chance. I\nwas a high-end German car lover when I came across a neighbor that had\njust purchased a silver 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8\u00ae<\/sup>. This was just days\nbefore Christmas of 2005. I was in the market for a bigger, 4-door,\nhigher horsepower sedan, and when I saw this Charger, it just grabbed me.\nAfter a few days of researching on the Internet of what I had seen, I was convinced\nI wanted one in black. I spent three weeks trying to find one that was not\nover sticker and finally came across one. After much haggling, I traded\ntwo paid-off BMWs straight across for my 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8 in brilliant\nblack. The rest is, as they say, \u201chistory.\u201d Never has one decision\nhad such a profound impact on the direction of where my life would go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DG: Fill\nus in a little on your car, the transformation over the years and where it\nsits now.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CH: I purchased the car on January 20,\n2006. I quickly joined a couple online forums back when they were \u201cthe\u201d place\nto go for info and discussion. I wasted little time in looking for mods,\nonly to find slim pickings for these cars back in early 2006. My first\nmod was KW Suspension V1 coilovers, along with a Mopar cold air intake. After\nthat was done, I painted my factory wheels, which was later coined the\n“Legmaker Mod”. This consisted of black painted pockets on the\nfactory SRT Charger wheel. I spent a lot of the first few years showing\nthe car before venturing into the performance side of things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up until early 2009, the biggest\nperformance mod was a B&G flashed engine controller. Yes, that will tell you how long I have been\naround! In April of 2009, I installed a Novi 1500 supercharger kit with\nthe help of Scott Boegler, now the owner of AMP (American Muscle Performance)\nin south Florida. That install sparked the racing fire again that\nhad been dormant since my college days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car has gone through more\nperformance upgrades than I can remember. I have been through a few\ndifferent blowers, motors, transmissions, etc. Finally, in 2015, the car\nwas pulled from daily driver status and became a more dedicated track\ncar. As it sits today, here are the basics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Billy Briggs forged 6.1 short block
– Thitek heads
– Procharger F1A94 
– Nitrous Outlet plate kit
– 90mm TB
– Gearhead Fabrication custom air\/air intercooler set up
– ABS delete
– TH400 transmission from ATI
– PTC convertor
– 8.8 rear diff
– DSS cf driveshaft
– DSS axles
– Fore dual pump, return fuel system
– TCE 15″ rear brake conversion
– Weld S77 beadlock wheels
– 10pt 8.50 certified cage by Gearhead Fabrication
– Tuned by Erik Storms of BFNY via Diablosport CMR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dodge<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The car still has all the factory\nglass, sunroof, door panels, functioning electric windows and more. It\u2019s by no\nmeans \u201cgutted.\u201d The car weighs 4,100 lbs with me in it. Power output is\n1,000+rwhp with the current supercharger running 24psi. The car is equipped\nwith nitrous but has not been sprayed in its current configuration.\nCurrent best time on this setup is 9.00 @ 145 during testing at the MSHS MIR\nevent back in May of 2019. The convertor at that time was too loose and\nwe could not make any mph out the back half of any runs. Car would go\n5.6x to the 1\/8th at 125+, but struggled out the back. Since then, I have\nbattled some gremlins as well as finding time to work with the car and solve\nthe gremlins. As of this time, the car is finally 85% sorted and waiting\nfor me to find the time to get in more testing before the upcoming 2020 MSHS\nseason. Running a successful business and being a busy husband and dad\nmakes track time hard to come by. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I must acknowledge the following\npeople\/shops for all their help in getting the car to its current state:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mario Abascal – Gearhead Fabrication
Erik Storms – BFNY
Jennifer Harrigan – A very understanding wife<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"vehicle<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DG: You\nhave lived knee deep in the action since the SRT V8 cars came out. What do you\nthink about the most modern SRT lineup like the SRT Hellcat and SRT Hellcat Redeye\nin comparison to the old 6.1L HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> engine-powered vehicle? We have come a long way, eh?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CH: The entire modern Mopar community has\nchanged drastically since the introduction of the Hellcat in 2015. The\ncars themselves are light years better than my first 2006 SRT Charger.\nFrom the fit and finish of the interiors, to the motors, 8-speed transmission\nand so much more. The platform is amazing. The departure of the\nMercedes influence to the more enthusiastic Italian presence has done\nwonders on the overall lineup. I\u2019m in awe of what can be done with the Hellcat platform. It took a lot of effort and money to make my 6.1 go as\nfast as my Hellcat runs stock off the assembly line. My 2006 Charger was nowhere\nnear as nice to drive as my Hellcat is. It is even more impressive how\nthe competition struggles to keep up. Dodge and Chrysler have done a\nremarkable job at continually keeping themselves relevant year after\nyear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"vehicle<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DG: What\ngot you into racing?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CH: When I was a 17-year-old high school\njunior, my best friend was very much into drag racing. I made my first\npass down a drag strip in Sacramento, California, in 1986. I drove my\nbuddy’s \u201968 Camaro with a 350 and turbo 400. It was a blast. I\nwill never forget being so nervous that I drove past the water box and had to\nback into it. Well, you guessed it, I did my burnout in reverse! After\nthat night, I was hooked. I had a Volkswagen \u201cBug\u201d as my first car and\nspent every dime I made to make it faster. I raced that car while in high\nschool, and after my freshman year of college, I stopped racing and rarely went\nto a track until getting into the modern Mopars many years later. In 2007,\nI went to my first Southeast Shindig (Dodge community car-meet) in Perry,\nGeorgia. I decided to go to the track the night before the show and made my\nfirst pass in my Charger. It ran a 13.5 at 106 mph. I even had a\n.000 reaction time in one of my races. It was probably just luck, I\nwasn\u2019t \u201cthat\u201d good. That was the point that I think my days of doing car\nshows every weekend started to fade and my attention went to focusing more\non going fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DG: What\nare your thoughts on how the Gen3 HEMI race scene has evolved over the years?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"vehicle<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When I first got into the Gen 3\nplatform, there was no racing scene. It was guys taking their cars to the\nlocal tracks and doing their thing. I am a firm believer that a lot\nof the early days on the forums are where much of the organization began.\nLocal areas had their own gigs, but when taking a bigger picture look at the\nGen 3 world, the friendships and relationships formed online was the spark that\ngot events like the Modern Street HEMI Shootout going. Looking back over\nall my years racing in the MSHS series, it is without a doubt THE biggest and\nbest series focused on just the Gen 3 world. I feel privileged to say I\nhave been with the MSHS since day one. I will also say that Dan Van Horn\nhas done a remarkable job at growing the series from where it started to\nwhere it is now. Of course, it takes a team to do this, but Dan has really\ndone an admirable job overseeing the growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DG: You\nare currently very involved in the Mopar grassroots racing community, one as a\nracer, but also as a manufacturer and sponsor. Give us a little history lesson\non Legmaker Intakes becoming a \u201cthing\u201d.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CH: I will try to keep this short, but it\nwon\u2019t be easy!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent over 20 years in the\nprosthetic industry designing and building prosthetic limbs. Hence my\nonline screen name “Legmaker”. In my daily work\nfabricating prosthetic devices, I worked a lot with composite materials.\nIn 2008, I was approached about helping a company that sold air intakes to the\nMopar community. The company was Hammer Motorsports. Anyone who was\naround this platform back in the early days will remember the company.\nUnfortunately for the company, they ran into some issues with manufacturing a\nnew carbon fiber version of their well-known Air Hammer intake. I offered\nmy services to help the company to the best of my abilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late 2008, I was working behind the\nscenes as a manufacturer in my spare time. I was still working my 9-5 job\nmaking prosthetic legs. By summer of 2009, Hammer Motorsports went under\nand I was out a fair amount of money owed to me. All things\nconsidered, I did see a very unique opportunity and agreed to buy the\nmanufacturing rights to the Air Hammer for the money owed and I would go off on\nmy own. This all was only supposed to be a side gig to help pay for car\nparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"vehicle<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the fall of 2009, I developed\nthe True CAI (cold air intake). This kit was tested by some very\nprominent racers and showed incredible results for that time. By Jan\n2010, I decided to formalize this side venture and founded Legmaker Industries,\nLLC. LMI Intakes was born. The early days would see in the\nneighborhood of 40 orders a month. As time progressed, I developed\nmore and more kits and people were winning races with LMI products. The company\nbegan to get traction, and by May of 2011, I left a good paying job to go off on\nmy own. The company continued to slowly grow and prosper, but in the\nsummer of 2016, everything changed with the introduction of the LMI Hellcat\nintake. Sales soared and what used to be 3-5 orders a day went to\n20+. LMI is now the leader in the Hellcat air intake world, with\nclose to 5,000 intakes sold over the past 4 years. The introduction of\nthe TrackHawk kit in May of 2018 further pushed sales upward. This\nlittle side gig that started in my garage in 2008 has now grown to a prospering\ncompany that requires my full-time attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, though, LMI is\nstill a company that is a one-man operation. I painstakingly hand-make every\nsingle order that comes in, one at a time. Everything is made for Mopar\nenthusiasts by a Mopar enthusiast. I don’t try and be mediocre in\nmultiple platforms like my competition. I choose to be the best in one\nthing, and that is the Mopar platform!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dodge<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LMI specializes in HAND-MADE intakes\nfrom real carbon fiber. My unique fabrication process that was adapted\nfrom my years in the prosthetic industry allows for smooth inside and\noutside surfaces. This is unlike any other company that tries to work\nwith carbon fiber. Their processes leave rough and ugly inner surfaces that are\nnot good from an air flow standpoint. I also have tested my kits first-hand on more cars than I can recall. I know what works and what doesn’t\nwork, because all I focus on is the modern Mopar line of cars. My\nreward for all these efforts is seeing my customers succeed on the track.\nIt is also very humbling for me personally to know so many people entrust me to\nprovide intakes to help them reach whatever goals they may have for their\ncars. I have to pinch myself sometimes. It is truly an honor to not\nonly be a “member” of the community, but also a vendor. I try\nand give back as much as I can to the very same people that have helped my\nbusiness grow. I don’t hesitate to put my money where my mouth is.\nThis is evident by my continued support of the MSHS series as a class sponsor\nfor the past 10 years, as well as having the honor of being a title sponsor for\nthe season-opening event in 2019 and again for 2020 in NOLA on March 5-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DG: Would\nyou say the Mopar racing community is overall a tight knit group of people with\ncommon goals?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"modern<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

CH: Yes, without a doubt. I have never\nbeen a part of a culture like what I see within the Mopar racing scene, and\nbeyond. People never hesitate to help one another whether it\u2019s at the\ntrack with a broken car, or somewhere on the side of a highway needing\nhelp. It is crazy how well this group of people work together. Another\nthing I see within this community is aftermarket companies and shops that\nactually work together to help out the platform as a whole. It is amazing\nto see and really shows me how many of the companies and shops in this\ncommunity see the big picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DG: What\nis your favorite SRT vehicle ever made?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CH: Hands down the Charger Hellcat. I tell people all the time, if I had one car that I had to drive the rest of my life, it would be my Hellcat Charger. It just does everything so well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DG: If\nyou were to get a brand-new SRT today, which would you pick and why?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SRT Hellcat Charger Redeye Widebody,\nif they came out with one.<\/p>\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n

I couldn\u2019t agree more on that last\none. I ask Santa daily for that car to come into existence!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris is as great a guy as he is a builder and racer. One of the many gems in the community and really embodies how these cars are so much more than just transportation for us. If you want to see more of Chris\u2019s work, head over to www.legmakerintakes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to find out more about the MSHS race series, head over to www.hemirace.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n