AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY – JANUARY 10, 1940 – HAROLD PHIL GANT WAS BORN
Harold Phil Gant (born January 10, 1940), better known as "Handsome Harry", is a retired American stock car racing driver best known for driving the No. 33 Skoal Bandit car on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series circuit during the 1980s and 1990s and his 4-race win streak in 1991.
Gant gained a lot of nicknames throughout his racing career. 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 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.
Harry Gant entered the decade with a win at Pocono in the spring of 1990. He would finish 17th in the final points standings with 6 top 5s and 9 top 10s. In 1991, Gant would have a career year. He won the 1991 Winston 500 in the spring. He gambled on fuel mileage and won. Fellow competitor Rick Mast drafted behind Gant to give him a push the last few laps but let off in the final laps to preserve the victory.
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 tied the modern era record set in 1972. Dominating at the next race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Gant had his brakes fail, ending his hopes of five consecutive victories. Gant would get 5 victories in 1991, and would notch 15 top five finishes and 17 top tens and he would finish fourth in the final point standings.
Gant would follow up 1991 with a strong 1992 and finish 4th in points again and was one of five drivers in contention for the championship but six finishes of 13th or worse in the final races doomed his championship hopes. Gant would win at Dover in the spring and he would get his last Cup victory on August 16, 1992, at the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan International Speedway, gambling on fuel.
This would also be the final victory for Oldsmobile in Cup competition. Harry Gant and the Leo Jackson team would switch to Chevrolets in 1993 and at the end of the season Gant announced that 1994 would be his last season. Gant finished his career with a pole and seven top ten finishes and finished 25th in the final point standings.
In 1996, Gant substituted for the injured Bill Elliott in the 1996 Winston Select, driving Elliott's No. 94 McDonald's Ford Thunderbird after Elliott's injuries at Talladega. Gant also ran a partial season in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1996, driving his own No. 33 Westview Capital Chevrolet C/K. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006.
Currently, Gant continues to work on his 300-acre ranch in North Carolina and enjoys riding his motorcycle. In 2015, he was in attendance at Darlington for the Southern 500 to take part in the retro weekend. He also still works on roofs and carpentry in his spare time. Gant once admitted that he "was a good race car driver, but a great carpenter".
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