Harry Gant

Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Harry Phil Gant


Birthdate = birth date and age|1940|1|10
Birthplace = Taylorsville, North Carolina
Best_Cup_Pos = 2nd - 1984 (Winston Cup)
Cup_Wins = 18
Cup_Top_Tens = 208
Cup_Poles = 17
First_Cup_Race = 1973 Charlotte Motor Speedway
First_Cup_Win = 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 Martinsville
Last_Cup_Win = 1992 Champion Spark Plugs 400 Michigan
Last_Cup_Race = 1996 Charlotte Motor Speedway (subbed for Bill Elliott in The Winston Select)
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)

2006 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee
Years_In_Cup = 22
Total_Cup_Races = 474
Best_Busch_Pos = 2nd - 1984 (Winston Cup)
Busch_Wins = 21
Busch_Top_Tens = 71
Busch_Poles = 14
First_Busch_Race = 1982 Goody's 300 Daytona
First_Busch_Win = 1982 Mellow Yellow 300 Lowe's
Last_Busch_Win = 1994 Busch Light 300 Atlanta
Last_Busch_Race = 1994 AC-Delco 200 RockinghamYears_In_Busch = 11
Total_Busch_Races = 128
Best_Truck_Pos = 2nd - 1984 (Winston Cup)
Truck_Wins = 0
Truck_Top_Tens = 4
Truck_Poles = 0
First_Truck_Race = 1996 Coca-Cola 200 Bristol
Last_Truck_Race = 1996 Carquest 420K Las Vegas
Years_In_Truck = 1
Total_Truck_Races = 11

Harry Phil Gant (born January 10, 1940 in Taylorsville, North Carolina) is a retired American racecar driver best known for driving the number 33 Skoal Bandits car on the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) circuit.

Nicknames

He was known as Handsome Harry Gant due to his Hollywood-style good looks, The Bandit after his longtime sponsor Skoal Bandit, Mr. September after winning four Winston Cup races and two Busch Series races in September 1991, 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. Prior to his wins, Gant was sometimes referred to as the "bridesmaid" for always coming in second which was given to Kasey Kahne in the earlier years of his career.

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 Nationwide Series) in 1969, 1976, and 1977. He finished in the Top 10 of the final points standing in several other years.

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.

For much of his career, Gant drove the #33 Skoal Bandits car, which was owned by Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds.

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.

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 Plug 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Cup Records

He holds the record as the oldest driver ever to win a Winston Cup/Nextel Cup/Sprint Cup race (52 years and 219 days) and as the oldest driver ever to collect his first career Cup victory (42 years and 105 days). In his career he has collected 18 cup wins, 21 Nationwide Series wins, and 3 runner-up finishes in the Nationwide Series Championship (69, 76, and 77).

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.

Presently

Gant lives at his North Carolina home and often works on his property when he has time.

Movie appearances

He appeared in the 1983 Burt Reynolds movie Stroker Ace. He also gave a short interview in the film Days of Thunder and was mentioned for spinning out in the Daytona 500 at the end of the movie.

External links

* [http://www.harrygant.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=gantha01 Harry Gant's Driver's page at racing-reference.info]
* [http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/hgant00/cup/ Profile at Nascar.com]
* [http://www.decadesofracing.net/HarryGant.htm Harry Gant's profile at decadesofracing.net]