Harry Gant

Harold Phil Gant^[1] (born January 10, 1940), better known as "Handsome Harry", is a retired American racecar driver best known for driving the No. 33 Skoal Bandit car on the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) circuit during the 1980s and 1990s.

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"^[1] after winning four consecutive 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.

Career prior to Winston Cup

Gant's 1983 racecar

The North Carolina native began his racing career at the old dirt track in Hickory. He built a hobby class car with his friends, and took turns behind the wheel. Gant became the full-time driver and won the track championship.^[2] Hickory Speedway was paved in 1967 after Ned Jarrett became the promoter.^[2] Gant excelled on the asphalt, and won his first race in the sportsman division.

He won over 300 races with the car builder and crew chief Kenneth H. Sigmon, 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.

He sold half of his construction business in 1979 upon deciding to race full-time in the Winston Cup Series.^[2]

Winston Cup career

Gant driving in 1994

Gant made his first Cup start in 1973 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing eleventh in the No. 90 Truxmore Industries Ford. He made six starts over the next four years and had two top-ten finishes. His first full season in Winston Cup was in 1979. He competed for the rookie of the year honors against Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte. He finished fourth in the overall rookie battle in the No. 47 Race Hill Farm car for Jack Beebe. He split the next season between the No. 47 and the No. 75 RahMoc Enterprises entry, finishing 21st in points.

After starting out the 1981 season driving for various teams, he moved to the No. 33 Skoal Bandit Pontiac, which was owned by Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds, and Leo Jackson after 1988. Gant debuted with the team by placing second at Darlington Raceway, followed by five more second-place finishes and three poles, ending the season third in points standings.^[3] He stayed with the team for the rest of his career.

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 International Race of Champions (IROC) championship in 1985.^[4] 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.

Harry drove the No. 33 in the 1985 Talladega NASCAR race with the first telemetry data system ever installed on a race car. The data from the car was sent to the CBS television network and broadcast during the TV coverage of the race.

"Mister 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. His crew chief was Andy Petree.^[5] The four consecutive cup victories tied the modern era record set in 1972. Dominating at the next race, Harry might have won his fifth straight^[6] if his brakes had not faded with nine laps left to go at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Had the modern "Chase" point system been in place during his career Gant would have won Winston Cup championships in '84 and '91.^[7] 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 Cup Series race (7009165991680000000♠52 years, 219 days) and as the oldest driver ever to collect his first career Cup victory (42 years and 105 days). He is the second oldest driver to win in NASCAR's second-level circuit, now known as the Xfinity Series, after Dick Trickle^[8] In his career he has collected 18 Cup wins and one runner-up finish in 1984 and third in 1981 and 1985, 21 Busch Series wins, and three runner-up finishes in the Busch Series championship (69, 76, and 77). In 1985 won the IROC title. He won four races in a row in 1991 tying a "new era" (1972–present) record and came in second in the fifth race. His five Winston Cup and five Busch Grand National wins in 1991 made him the only driver, at that time, to post the most wins in both series in the same year, although he tied with Davey Allison with five Cup wins (Allison also scored a victory in the non-points All-Star Race).

Retirement

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, driving his own No. 33 Westview Capital Chevrolet C/K. Gant also substituted for the injured Bill Elliott in the 1996 Winston Select, driving Elliott's No. 94 McDonald's Ford Thunderbird.^[9]

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006.

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 (although it was actually the No. 26 of Brett Bodine). He also appeared as a mob henchman in the 1984 movie Cannonball Run II. His line in the film was "Better not let the boss hear you say that."

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts
1973	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	CLT	DOV	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	BRI	ATL	TAL	NSV	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT 11	CAR				85th	-
1974	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	DAR	NWS 9	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV																				64th	10.3
1974	Faustina Racing	5	Dodge													CLT 14	RSD	MCH	DAY	BRI	NSV	ATL	POC	TAL	MCH	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT 35	CAR	ONT		64th	10.3
1975	Neil Castles	06	Chevy	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 31	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	DAR	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	ONT		104th	70
1976	Frasson Racing	18	Chevy	RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 9	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT		84th	138
1977	Sherrill Enterprises	6	Chevy	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	NWS	DAR	BRI	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 30	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT		101st	73
1978	Ray Emerson	66	Buick	RSD	DAY 41	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV																					53rd	325
1978	Kennie Childers Racing	12	Chevy												CLT 36	NSV	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR 28	NWS	CLT 19	CAR	ATL 7	ONT		53rd	325
1979			Chevy	RSD 10		CAR 26	RCH	ATL	NWS																										21st	2664
			Olds		DAY 33
	Race Hill Farm Team	47	Olds							BRI 21	DAR		TAL 39							DAY 7													ATL 11
	Race Hill Farm Team	47	Chevy									MAR 6		NSV 28	DOV 25	CLT 23	TWS	RSD	MCH 17		NSV 22	POC 15	TAL 7	MCH 25	BRI 16	DAR 12	RCH 9	DOV 28	MAR 12	CLT 20	NWS 14	CAR 21		ONT 20
1980	RahMoc Enterprises	75	Olds	RSD 12																															11th	3703
	Race Hill Farm Team	47	Olds		DAY 42								TAL 37							DAY 16			TAL 5
	Race Hill Farm Team	47	Chevy			RCH 12	CAR 8	ATL 16	BRI 7	DAR 3	NWS 2	MAR 21		NSV 9	DOV 4	CLT 28			MCH 28		NSV 29	POC 5		MCH 37	BRI 14	DAR 3	RCH 20	DOV 2*	NWS 4	MAR 29	CLT 16	CAR 2	ATL 36	ONT 41
	RahMoc Enterprises	75	Chevy														TWS 8	RSD 7
1981	Hamby Racing	17	Chevy	RSD 15																															3rd	4210
	Race Hill Farm Team	47	Buick		DAY 23	RCH 6	CAR 18	ATL 2
	Hylton Motorsports	48	Pontiac						BRI 8
	Kennie Childers Racing	12	Olds							NWS 5		MAR 4*		NSV 22
	Mach 1 Racing	33	Pontiac								DAR 33		TAL 34				TWS 10		MCH 2		NSV 8	POC 4		MCH 4	BRI 11	DAR 14	RCH 2	DOV 23	MAR 2*	NWS 24	CLT 41	CAR 3	ATL 20	RSD 8
			Chevy												DOV 16	CLT 2		RSD 31
			Buick																	DAY 2			TAL 4
1982			Buick	DAY 7	RCH 30	BRI 6	ATL 5	CAR 8	DAR 19	NWS 6	MAR 1*	TAL 14	NSV 29		CLT 13	POC 4	RSD 35	MCH 10	DAY 24	NSV 3	POC 22	TAL 38	MCH 3	BRI 3	DAR 11	RCH 7	DOV 12	NWS 2	CLT 1	MAR 8	CAR 32	ATL 2	RSD 26		4th	3877
1982			Pontiac											DOV 30																					4th	3877
1983			Buick	DAY 37	RCH 5	CAR 5	ATL 11	DAR 1	NWS 3	MAR 2	TAL 4	NSV 3	DOV 9	BRI 27	CLT 25	RSD 3	POC 18	MCH 8	DAY 11	NSV 8	POC 5	TAL 5	MCH 30	BRI 6	DAR 22	RCH 20	DOV 17	MAR 8	NWS 9	CLT 29	CAR 23	ATL 37	RSD 31		7th	3790
1984			Chevy	DAY 6	RCH 8	CAR 24	ATL 6	BRI 23	NWS 2	DAR 6	MAR 13	TAL 2	NSV 16	DOV 27*	CLT 4	RSD 29	POC 2	MCH 4	DAY 2	NSV 9	POC 1*	TAL 7	MCH 4	BRI 5	DAR 1*	RCH 9	DOV 1*	MAR 4	CLT 4	NWS 2	CAR 2*	ATL 26	RSD 8		2nd	4443
1985				DAY 26	RCH 5	CAR 2*	ATL 24	BRI 20	DAR 14	NWS 10	MAR 1*	TAL 38	DOV 2	CLT 2	RSD 2	POC 2	MCH 16	DAY 24	POC 5	TAL 7	MCH 3	BRI 6	DAR 21	RCH 6	DOV 1*	MAR 3	NWS 1*	CLT 24*	CAR 3	ATL 8	RSD 4				3rd	4033
1986				DAY 30	RCH 28	CAR 2	ATL 12	BRI 4	DAR 14	NWS 7	MAR 25	TAL 21	DOV 14*	CLT 4	RSD 9	POC 26	MCH 2*	DAY 31	POC 30	TAL 22	GLN 34	MCH 8	BRI 5	DAR 27	RCH 7	DOV 35	MAR 3	NWS 5	CLT 2	CAR 4	ATL 28	RSD 37			11th	3498
1987				DAY 31	CAR 29	RCH 25	ATL 34	DAR 7	NWS 11	BRI 6	MAR 27	TAL 29	CLT 24	DOV 30	POC 32	RSD 25	MCH 13	DAY 9	POC 30	TAL 31	GLN 18	MCH 26	BRI 8	DAR 39	RCH 25	DOV 25	MAR 14	NWS 31	CLT 33	CAR 13	RSD 28	ATL 24			22nd	2725
1988				DAY 29	RCH 28	CAR 28	ATL 21	DAR 38	BRI 18	NWS 12	MAR 26	TAL 36	CLT 30	DOV	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	POC 10	TAL 16	GLN 31	MCH 21	BRI 6	DAR 40	RCH 32	DOV 11	MAR 30	CLT 24	NWS 30	CAR 7	PHO 12	ATL 30			27th	2266
1989	Jackson Bros. Motorsports		Olds	DAY 12	CAR 31	ATL 29	RCH 14	DAR 1*	BRI 10	NWS 23	MAR 12	TAL 7	CLT 40	DOV 23	SON 12	POC 2	MCH 32	DAY 32	POC 5	TAL 8	GLN 19	MCH 3	BRI 4	DAR 6	RCH 5	DOV 38	MAR 2	CLT 2	NWS 4	CAR 29	PHO 8	ATL 17			7th	3610
1990	Leo Jackson Motorsports			DAY 18	RCH 36	CAR 11	ATL 9	DAR 6	BRI	NWS 13	MAR 26	TAL 36	CLT 25	DOV 34	SON 19	POC 1	MCH 5	DAY 7	POC 14	TAL 15	GLN 21	MCH 13	BRI 26	DAR 5	RCH 36	DOV 4	MAR 5	NWS 28	CLT 26	CAR 3	PHO 37	ATL 19			17th	3182
1991				DAY 25	RCH 3	CAR 3	ATL 19	DAR 27	BRI 11	NWS 23	MAR 5	TAL 1	CLT 4	DOV 3	SON 27	POC 4	MCH 10	DAY 23	POC 26	TAL 39	GLN 28	MCH 6	BRI 19	DAR 1*	RCH 1	DOV 1*	MAR 1*	NWS 2*	CLT 4	CAR 2*	PHO 23	ATL 4			4th	3985
1992				DAY 12	CAR 3	RCH 3	ATL 2	DAR 2	BRI 29	NWS 5	MAR 5	TAL 24	CLT 5	DOV 1	SON 17	POC 23	MCH 7	DAY 23	POC 2	TAL 17	GLN 18	MCH 1	BRI 26	DAR 16*	RCH 8	DOV 6	MAR 19	NWS 13	CLT 8	CAR 6	PHO 14	ATL 13			4th	3955
1993			Chevy	DAY 21	CAR 31	RCH 9	ATL 21	DAR 37	BRI 28	NWS 13	MAR 31	TAL 23	SON 19	CLT 18	DOV 7	POC 3	MCH 10	DAY 21	NHA 17	POC 9	TAL 8	GLN 10	MCH 30	BRI 4	DAR 7	RCH 11	DOV 5	MAR 33	NWS 6	CLT 12	CAR 4	PHO 12	ATL 28		11th	3524
1994			Chevy	DAY 34	CAR 37	RCH 34	ATL 30	DAR 8	BRI 37	NWS 8	MAR DNQ	TAL 23	SON 10	CLT 7	DOV 42	POC 16	MCH 35	DAY 31	NHA 17	POC 38	TAL 21	IND 37	GLN 10	MCH 25	BRI 9	DAR 41	RCH 22	DOV 13	MAR 8	NWS 32	CLT 22	CAR 31	PHO 23	ATL 33	25th	2720

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1978	Ray Emerson	Buick	20	41
1979	Kennie Childers Racing	Oldsmobile	14	33
1980	Race Hill Farm Team	Oldsmobile	10	42
1981	Race Hill Farm Team	Buick	31	23
1982	Mach 1 Racing	Buick	2	7
1983		Buick	13	37
1984		Chevrolet	6	6
1985			10	26
1986			15	30
1987			12	31
1988			20	29
1989	Jackson Bros. Motorsports	Oldsmobile	12	12
1990	Leo Jackson Motorsports		5	18
1991			11	25
1992			11	12
1993		Chevrolet	37	21
1994		Chevrolet	36	34

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBSC	Pts
1982	Harry Gant	77	Pontiac	DAY 6	RCH	BRI	MAR	DAR 14	HCY	SBO	CRW	RCH	LGY	DOV 15	HCY	CLT 1	ASH	HCY	SBO	CAR	CRW	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP	BRI	HCY	RCH	MAR	CLT DNQ	HCY	MAR							43rd	469
1983	Johnny Hayes Racing	28	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	NWS	SBO	GPS	LGY	DOV	BRI	CLT 4	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	CRW	ROU	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP	GPS	BRI	HCY	DAR	RCH	NWS	SBO	MAR	ROU	CLT	HCY	MAR	102nd	160
1986	Ingram Racing	11	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	HCY	MAR	BRI	DAR	SBO	LGY	JFC	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	RAL	OXF	SBO	HCY	LGY	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR 8	ROU	CLT	CAR	MAR					109th	-
1987	Whitaker Racing	7	Buick	DAY 18	HCY	MAR	DAR 5	BRI 23	LGY	SBO	CLT 1	DOV 24*	IRP	ROU	JFC	OXF	SBO	HCY	RAL	LGY	ROU	BRI 31	JFC	DAR 1*	RCH 7	DOV 24*	MAR 31	CLT 1	CAR 30	MAR 31									26th	1509
1988				DAY 8	HCY 11	CAR 5	MAR	DAR 2*	BRI 8	LNG	NZH	SBO	NSV	CLT 6	DOV	ROU	LAN	LVL	MYB 23	OXF	SBO	HCY	LNG	IRP	ROU	BRI 4	DAR 1*	RCH 1	DOV 7	MAR 1	CLT 38	CAR 1	MAR 1						19th	2238
1989				DAY 26	CAR 11*	MAR 20	HCY 6	DAR 3	BRI 30	NZH	SBO	LAN	NSV	CLT 29	DOV 28	ROU	LVL	VOL	MYB	SBO	HCY	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI 28	DAR 1	RCH 25	DOV 15	MAR 26	CLT 7	CAR 1*	MAR 2							20th	1907
1990			Olds	DAY 2																																			23rd	2134
1990			Buick		RCH 34	CAR 4	MAR 28	HCY 9	DAR 1*	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	HCY 9	CLT 3	DOV 2	ROU	VOL	MYB	OXF	NHA 2	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR 2	RCH 10	DOV 1*	MAR	CLT 30	NHA	CAR 7	MAR					23rd	2134
1991				DAY 5	RCH 1	CAR 5	MAR 24*	VOL	HCY	DAR 40*	BRI 7	LAN	SBO	NZH	CLT 3	DOV 16*	ROU	HCY	MYB	GLN	OXF	NHA	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI 30	DAR 7	RCH 1	DOV 1*	CLT 1	NHA 3	CAR 5	MAR 1*					21st	2309
1992				DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH 1*	ATL 2	MAR	DAR 2	BRI 1*	HCY	LAN	DUB	NZH	CLT	DOV 17	ROU	MYB	GLN	VOL	NHA						BRI 22	DAR 31*	RCH 9	DOV 3		MAR 26	CAR 5	HCY					19th	1887
1992			Chevy																			TAL 33	IRP	ROU	MCH 5	NHA					CLT 7								19th	1887
1993			Chevy	DAY 3			DAR 2	BRI 26	HCY	ROU	MAR	NZH	CLT 38	DOV 31	MYB	GLN	MLW 29	TAL 41	IRP	MCH 13	NHA	BRI 16	DAR 32	RCH	DOV 34	ROU	CLT 35	MAR	CAR 29	HCY	ATL 4								19th	1887
1993			Buick		CAR 7	RCH 33																																	19th	1887
1994			Chevy	DAY 32	CAR 2	RCH 3	ATL 1*	MAR	DAR 5	HCY	BRI 7	ROU	NHA	NZH	CLT 30	DOV 32	MYB	GLN	MLW 12	SBO	TAL 31	HCY	IRP 32	MCH 24	BRI 28	DAR 23	RCH	DOV 2*	CLT 35	MAR	CAR 4*								23rd	1939

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	NCTC	Pts
1996	Harry Gant	33	Chevy	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	TUS	CNS	HPT	BRI 13	NZH 21	MLW	LVL	I70	IRP 12	FLM 8	GLN	NSV 20	RCH 8	NHA 24	MAR 10	NWS 31	SON	MMR	PHO 10	LVS 21	24th	1267

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

International Race of Champions results
Season	Make	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Pts
1985	Chevy	DAY 5	MOH 6	TAL C	MCH 1*	1st	45
1986	Chevy	DAY 8	MOH 6	TAL 2	GLN 11	6th	41
1992	Dodge	DAY 2	TAL 5	MCH 4	MCH 6	5th	46.5
1993	Dodge	DAY 8	DAR 3	TAL 7	MCH 4	7th	44

References

1 2 "Harry P. Gant".
1 2 3 http://search.proquest.com/docview/273091779
↑ Caraviello, David (January 14, 2014). "TOP 10 DEBUTS WITH NEW TEAMS". NASCAR. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
↑ "IROC Results for 1985 - Racing-Reference.info".
↑ Callahan, Terry. "Skoal Racing's final ride to come at Atlanta" 1999. http://www.theautochannel.com/news/date/19991116/news003231.html
↑ http://search.proquest.com/docview/280434725
↑ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site - Sprint Cup Series Chase History".
↑ http://search.proquest.com/docview/273508661
↑ http://search.proquest.com/docview/423621093

External links

Harry Gant driver statistics at Racing-Reference
Harry Gant owner statistics at Racing-Reference
Harry Gant at the Internet Movie Database
Harry Gant at Nascar.com
Harry Gant at decadesofracing.net

Sporting positions
Preceded by Cale Yarborough	IROC Champion IROC IX (1985)	Succeeded by Al Unser, Jr.

International Race of Champions winners

Donohue B. Unser Foyt Unser Sr Andretti Allison Yarborough Gant Unser Jr Bodine T. Labonte Earnhardt Wallace Rudd Allison/Labonte Martin B. Labonte Harvick Busch Kenseth Stewart

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