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Harry Gant
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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.
as 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.
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Encyclopedia
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 also 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.
He sold half of his construction business in 1979 upon deciding to race full-time in the Winston Cup series.
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 and later Leo Jackson.
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. His crew chief was Andy Petree. The four consecutive cup victories ties the modern era record set in 1972. Dominating at the next race, 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). He is the second oldest driver to win the Nationwide Series after Dick Trickle 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.
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