Harry Gant
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| Born: | January 10, 1940 | |
| Birthplace: | Taylorsville, North Carolina | |
| Awards: | 1985 IROC Champion
1991 National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year Inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame in 2003 Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) |
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| NASCAR Cup statistics | ||
| 474 races run over 22 years. | ||
| Best Cup Position: | 2nd - 1984 (Winston Cup) | |
| First Race: | 1973 Charlotte Motor Speedway | |
| Last Race: | 1996 Charlotte Motor Speedway (subbed for Bill Elliott in The Winston Select) | |
| First Win: | 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 Martinsville Speedway | |
| Last Win: | 1992 Champion Spark Plugs 400 Michigan International Speedway | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 18 | 208 | 17 |
Harry Phil Gant (born January 10, 1940 in Taylorsville, North Carolina) is a motorsport driver best known for driving the number 33 Skoal Bandits car on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit.
He appeared in the 1983 Burt Reynolds movie Stroker Ace.
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[edit] Nicknames
He was known as Handsome Harry Gant due to his Hollywood-style good looks, The Bandit after his longtime sponsor, and High Groove Harry after the high line he often took through the corner. A humble man, Gant often stated that he was a good race car driver, but a great carpenter. Another nickname that was given to him by Darrell Waltrip was "The Answer To Every Trivia Question" because he holds many Busch Series records.
[edit] Career prior to Winston Cup
The North Carolina native began his racing career at the old dirt track in Hickory. Harry built a hobby class car with his friends, and took turns behind the wheel. Harry became the full-time driver and won the track championship. Hickory Speedway was paved in 1967 after Ned Jarrett became the promoter. Gant excelled on the asphalt, and won his first race in the Sportsman division.
Harry won over 300 races in the NASCAR Sportsman on his way to winning three national championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974. He finished second three times in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman (now Busch Series) in 1969, 1976, and 1977. He finished in the Top 10 of the final points standing in several other years.
[edit] Winston Cup Career
Harry's first full season in Winston Cup was in 1979. He competed for the Rookie of the Year against an extremely strong rookie field including Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte. The hotly contested award was decided at the final race of the season in favor of Earnhardt.
Gant finished second 10 times before winning his first Winston Cup race at Martinsville April 25, 1982, in the Virginia National Bank 500. He then went on to become runner up to Winston Cup season champion Terry Labonte in 1984.
Gant won the IROC (International Race of Champions) championship in 1985. He tied on points with Darrell Waltrip but was awarded the title on tiebreak by finishing higher in the final race: a photo-finish win over Labonte at Michigan International Speedway.
[edit] Mr. September
Gant earned the nickname "Mr. September" in 1991 after winning all four September Cup races (Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville) and two Busch races (Richmond and Dover) at age 51. The four consecutive cup victories ties the modern era record set in 1972. Harry might have won his fifth straight race if his brakes hadn't faded with 9 laps left to go at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Harry Gant got his last cup victory on August 16, 1992, at the Champion Spark Plugs 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
[edit] Cup Records
He holds the record as oldest driver to win a cup race (52 years and 219 days). In his career he has collected 18 cup wins, 21 Busch Series wins, and 3 runner-up finishes in the Busch Series Championship (69, 76, and 77).
[edit] Retirement
"Handsome" Harry Gant retired from Winston Cup and Busch Series racing at the end of the 1994 season, and later ran a partial season in the Craftsman truck series in 1996. Gant also substituted for the injured Bill Elliott in the 1996 Winston Select, driving Elliott's #94 McDonald's Ford Thunderbird instead of the trademark #33 Skoal Bandit.
Harry Gant was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Harry Gant's Driver's page at racing-reference.info
- Profile at Nascar.com
- Harry Gant's profile at decadesofracing.net
- More background
| Preceded by Cale Yarborough |
IROC Champion IROC IX (1985) |
Succeeded by Al Unser, Jr. |
