19 Facts About Paulie Harraka

Paul Peter Harraka was born on September 15,1989 and is an American former professional stock car racing driver and entrepreneur.

Paulie Harraka is a graduate of Duke University and a former representative of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program.

Paulie Harraka was born in Wayne, New Jersey to a family of Syrian descent.

Paulie Harraka attended Wayne Valley High School from his freshman through junior years, but spent his senior year at Lake Norman High School to be closer to NASCAR team Joe Gibbs Racing, where he worked as an engineering and research and development intern.

Paulie Harraka is one of only two NASCAR drivers with University degrees, the other being Ryan Newman.

Paulie Harraka first sat behind the wheel when he received a backyard fun kart from his family and started driving it around abandoned buildings.

Paulie Harraka entered his first race on June 1,1997, at Flemington Speedway, and despite being underage, Paulie Harraka won.

Paulie Harraka won a popular karting event at Mark Dismore's karting facility in Indiana, the RoboPong 200 karting event, teamed with on-sabbatical NASCAR driver Ricky Rudd.

Paulie Harraka was invited to the Drive for Diversity Combine in the fall of 2006, where he impressed team owner Bill McAnally.

McAnally hired Paulie Harraka to compete for his California-based team, despite Paulie Harraka still being in high school in New Jersey.

Paulie Harraka traveled back and forth between New Jersey and California every weekend, and ultimately finished second in the All American Series in Roseville, California that year, winning the Rookie of the Year title.

Paulie Harraka returned to the team in 2008, this time holding the duties of both driver and crew chief.

For 2012, Paulie Harraka competed in the Camping World Truck Series, running for Rookie of the Year driving for Wauters Motorsports.

In September 2012, Paulie Harraka drove for Go Green Racing in the Nationwide Series at Richmond International Raceway.

In 2013, Paulie Harraka made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway, driving the No 52 Ford for Go Green Racing in collaboration with Brian Keselowski Motorsports, where he suffered an incident before the race had started in which he ran into the back of another car on pit road; he finished in 39th place, 21 laps down.

Paulie Harraka then retired from NASCAR to focus on business interests.

In 2011 Paulie Harraka partnered with a group of Fortune 500 CEOs, venture capitalists, and professional sports executives as a partner to launch innovative technology platforms that challenge conventional approaches to the sport and business of NASCAR.

The investor group supported Paulie Harraka's NASCAR racing activities and entrepreneurial business ventures disruptive to NASCAR.

In November 2013, Paulie Harraka delivered a talk chronicling his entrepreneurial ventures at TEDxBeaconStreet in Boston, making Paulie Harraka the only NASCAR driver ever to deliver a TED presentation.