Born in 1930, Harb grew up in High Point, North Carolina, and served in the United States Army during the Korean War before turning to racing. When not competing, he operated an auto repair shop in his hometown. He was also an active golfer and bowler in his community. In 1949, he married his wife Betty, and they had three children together.
Harb entered his first NASCAR races in 1955, making two starts and finishing in the eleventh and twelfth positions. In 1956 he remained active in local events around the Carolinas, earning modest prize money for mid-field finishes. By 1957 he was still limiting himself to a handful of races within the region, though he consistently finished inside the top twenty.
The 1958 season marked a breakthrough for Harb. Running 25 Grand National races at prominent venues including Martinsville Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway, he recorded four top-five finishes, seven top-tens, and a career-best finish of third at Columbia Speedway, placing 24th in series points. The season also produced one of the defining moments of his career: at the final race of the year at Lakewood Speedway near Atlanta, Harb positioned his car to block oncoming traffic while fellow driver Bill Morton's vehicle sat upside down and disabled in the middle of the racing surface following an accident. His quick-thinking action is credited with saving Morton's life, and NASCAR honored Harb with the John Naughton Sportsmanship Award as a result.
In 1959, running 19 races, Harb matched his best finish of third again, this time at Concord Speedway, where he also claimed his first career pole position. Mechanical failures plagued him, however, with ten DNFs on the season.
The 1960 season brought 20 starts and seven top-ten finishes, including a single race for the storied Wood Brothers Racing team, though that outing ended early with a crash at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. Harb ran his largest schedule in 1961 with 27 starts but struggled with reliability, frequently being eliminated by mechanical failures — including unusual problems such as A-frame failures and broken rear axles.
In 1963, Harb achieved his career-best result: a second-place finish at Bowman Gray Stadium. He also made a start for the legendary Buck Baker that year, though engine failure cut the race short.
After entering only three races in 1964 — two of them at Bowman Gray Stadium, where he recorded a top-five — Harb ran his final five NASCAR Grand National races in 1965, all for car owner Cliff Stewart. Mechanical trouble hampered the effort and he completed only two of the five starts, though both produced solid results with a fifth and a sixth-place finish.
Alongside his Grand National work, Harb also competed in the NASCAR Convertible Division. He entered one convertible race in 1957, then ran 15 of the 19 events on the 1958 schedule. That year he recorded a best finish of third at the Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, along with two other top-fives and seven additional top-ten results, finishing eleventh in convertible series points.
Harb's career totaled 144 NASCAR Grand National starts, placing him among the dependable journeymen who helped build the infrastructure of early stock car racing in the Carolinas. His selfless act at Lakewood Speedway in 1958 earned lasting recognition within the sport. He died on December 18, 2016, at a hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina.