Harry Gant’s NASCAR profession was like a bottle of wonderful wine with Sonoma: it acquired higher with age.
Gant, a local of Taylorsville, N.C., did not make his first NASCAR Cup Collection begin till 1973 at age 33. He did not contest his first full-time Cup season till 1979.
However at age 86, Gant is about to be inducted into the NASCAR Corridor of Fame on Friday due to a legendary profession from a late bloomer.
How Harry Gant grew to become a NASCAR famous person
In 1981, Gant moved to the No. 33 Skoal Bandit crew, owned by Hal Needham and actor Burt Reynolds of “Smokey and the Bandit” fame. Thus, the notorious “Skoal Bandit” No. 33 automobile was born, and Gant was the face of it.
In 1982, at age 42, Gant earned his first Cup Collection win at Martinsville. The remaining, as they are saying, is historical past.
From 1982 to 1990, Gant received 11 Cup Collection races and completed top-10 within the championship 5 occasions, together with a runner-up end to Terry Labonte in 1984.
However it was 1991 — Gant’s age 51 season — that propelled him to superstardom.
Gant was constant as typical by the primary 20 occasions of 1991. He sat tenth within the factors standings and had snagged a win at Talladega earlier within the 12 months.
However that fall, Gant put collectively a dominant four-race stretch that noticed him win 4 races in a row and earn the nickname “Mr. September.”
Gant and the No. 33 crew dusted the Winston Cup area at Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville, with Gant main 41.4 p.c of the laps in these races. He then led 350 of 400 at North Wilkesboro, however completed runner-up to return up simply shy of 5 consecutive wins.
Gant’s late-season surge vaulted him to fourth within the remaining standings in 1991. He received two extra races in 1992 and completed fourth within the standings once more — the ultimate time he would end top-10 within the championship. His remaining profession win at Michigan in August 1992 got here when Gant was 52 years previous, and he stays the oldest winner of a Cup Collection race to today.
Gant retired after the 1994 season with 474 Cup Collection begins, 18 wins and 208 top-10 finishes to his identify.
Gant was no spring hen on the racetrack, however his knowledge usually carried him to the entrance of the pack and ultimately led him to the NASCAR Corridor of Fame.
