There is a certain line of age across which the human body simply cannot accommodate high-risk activities such as stock car racing. But for some, this line means absolutely nothing. 84-year-old NASCAR icon Harry Gant was one of them. The Taylorsville native recently celebrated his birthday on January 10 and presented a good moment to look back at his career.
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Gant’s prime days were in the 1980s and 1990s when he drove the #33 Skoal Bandit car for Mach 1 Racing and other teams. He started a total of 474 races over his 22-year-long career and won 18 of them. The most notable of these 18 wins are the four consecutive victories he secured in 1991.
The wins came in Darlington, Richmond, Dover, and Martinsville. 51 years old at the time, he finished that season in fourth place. He secured two more wins the following year and became the oldest driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. More than three decades later, the record still stands tall.
In the seasons between 1981 and 1985, Gant finished in the top-5 four times. He came runner-up to Terry Labonte in 1984. It is a huge misfortune that a driver of his caliber never got to lift the championship. Nevertheless, he was named as one of the NASCAR’s greatest 75 drivers in 2023. He also won the 1985 IROC Championship.
The infamous nicknames of Gant and his retirement from racing
Gant was a man with many nicknames. He was called “Handsome Harry” for his good looks, while also being called a “Bandit” for his longtime association with his sponsor Skoal Bandit. He was called “Mr. September” for his four consecutive wins in September 1991, and so on. However, he had one nickname that he never wanted and never liked.
It was “Hard Luck Harry.” The name referenced the ten runner-up finishes that he had to go through before collecting his maiden Cup Series win. The breakthrough finally came in 1982 at Martinsville. He infamously said after winning the race, “You have to have luck, get the best pit stops, or have the fastest car. Today, we had all of ’em.”
