Not to sound morbid, but there’s a reality in sports that once-great athletes who are deserving of being inducted into a sport’s Hall of Fame should be chosen while they can still enjoy the honor bestowed upon them. In other words, while they’re still alive.
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One of those current former NASCAR stars is Harry Gant. The 85-year-old native of Taylorsville, North Carolina, has now been nominated seven times for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, yet has never received enough votes to be inducted.
Now, Gant has one of the biggest names in the sport in his corner to be selected for induction into the NASCAR Hall, namely, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
While Earnhardt Jr. has nothing against the other nominees, he feels Gant is more than deserving. Given how Junior is such a devoted student of the sport and its history, if he believes Gant should finally be inducted, then yes, Gant should be inducted.
“I would put Harry Gant in,” Earnhardt said on this week’s edition of The Dale Jr. Download podcast. “He’s the Bandit (Gant earned that nickname during his time driving the Skoal Bandit car during his NASCAR Cup career).
“He had some great success on the short track ranks racing Sportsman, Modified and all kinds of things back in the ’70s. You almost got to remind yourself that there’s more to Harry than just the Cup stats,” Dale Jr. went on to add.
Speaking of stats, Gant competed in 474 Cup races in his career, earning 18 wins (including two Southern 500 victories), as well as 123 top-five and 208 top-10 finishes. He also competed in 128 Xfinity Series (known as the Busch Series back then) races, with 21 wins, 52 top-five and 71 top-10 finishes.
Gant never won a Cup or Xfinity championship, but did finish second in Cup in 1984. However, his best season overall statistically was 1991, when at 51 years old, he won five races. This included a modern era record-tying four in a row in September of that year, earning him the nickname ‘Mr. September’. But he only could finish fourth in the final standings.
Gant was unique, both on and off the track
Gant was one of the first drivers in NASCAR history to establish a unique brand of his own. “He was one of the earlier drivers to really have a persona,” Earnhardt said. “He was Handsome Harry, The Bandit, one of the guys that established a reputation that exceeded the boundaries of our sport, to an extent.”
Gant even appeared in three Hollywood movies during his career including Stroker Ace (starring the iconic Burt Reynolds), Cannonball Run II and Days of Thunder.
“He had that relationship with his car owner, Hal Needham, who would end up creating the movie Stroker Ace,” Earnhardt said. “You can’t understate Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest stars back then with the success of Smokey and the Bandit.
“Harry was featured in (Stroker Ace) quite a bit, so there was a lot of great energy and stuff going on around Harry back in the early 80s, and he goes on to have this really cool and respected career in the Cup and Xfinity Series,” Junior said while making Gant’s case.
When Earnhardt was asked to compare Gant to a driver currently today, he demurred. “(Gant) was one of a kind,” Earnhardt said. “I wouldn’t be doing Harry Gant justice to compare him to somebody that’s in the field today,” he added.
“But I think the Hall of Fame is fitting for his career. There’s other drivers that won more races and had championship careers, but (Gant stood out). I feel like Harry Gant would be one of the guys I would pick (for the Hall),” Dale Jr. concluded.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be decided in a ballot of voters on May 20. Three individuals will be chosen from the 15 selected for nomination for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2026, with two coming from the Modern Era and one from the Pioneer Era. They are Gant, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Banjo Matthews, Tim Brewer, Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Jake Elder, Randy LaJoie, Larry Phillips, Jack Sprague, Harry Hyde, Bob Welborn. Ray Hendrick and Randy Dorton.
