Harry Gant

Harold Phil Gant (born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "the Bandit", "High Groove Harry", "Hard Luck Harry", "Mr. September", and perhaps mostly 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.

Early on, "Sug" Thompson, announcer at New Asheville Speedway, nicknamed Harry "The Taylorsville Flash".

He split the next season between the No. 47 and the No. 75 RahMoc Enterprises entry, finishing 21st in points.

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.

He finished second three times in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division in 1969, 1976, and 1977.

He finished in the top 10 of the final points standing in several other years.

He won over 300 races with the car builder and crew chief Kenneth H. Sigmon, in the NASCAR Sportsman on his way to winning three national championships, in 1972, 1973, and 1974.

Gant made his first Cup start in 1973 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing eleventh in the No. 90 Ford for Donlavey Racing despite initially not being interested in the opportunity.

He made six starts over the next four years and had two top-ten finishes.

He sold half of his construction business in 1979 upon deciding to race full-time in the Winston Cup Series.

His first full season in Winston Cup was in 1979.

He competed for the rookie of the year honors against Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte.

He finished fourth in the overall rookie battle in the No. 47 Race Hill Farm car for Jack Beebe.

After starting out the 1981 season driving for various teams, he moved to the No. 33 Skoal Bandit Pontiac, which was owned by Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds, and Leo Jackson after 1988.

Gant debuted with the team by placing second at Darlington Raceway, followed by five more second-place finishes and three poles, ending the season third in points standings.

He stayed with the team for the rest of his career.

Gant finished second 10 times before winning his first Winston Cup race, at Martinsville April 25, 1982, in the Virginia National Bank 500 and he finished fourth in the final points standings.

In 1983, Gant only won once at Darlington in the Transouth 400 and collect 10 top 5s and 16 top ten finishes en route to seventh in the final points standings.

In 1984, Harry Gant notched 3 poles, 15 top five finishes, and 23 top ten finishes and won at Pocono and Martinsville in the fall, he ended up finishing second to eventual Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte.

In 1985, Gant won at Martinsville in the spring, and at Dover and at North Wilkesboro in the fall, notching a career best for Gant up to that point.

He finished third in championship standings, 259 points behind eventual champion Darrell Waltrip.

Gant won the International Race of Champions (IROC) 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

Gant drove the No. 33 in the 1985 Talladega NASCAR race with the first telemetry data system ever installed on a race car.

The data from the car was sent to the CBS television network and broadcast during the TV coverage of the race.

Gant went winless for three years from 1986-1988 and in 1989, he broke a three-year winless streak winning at Darlington in the spring which caused the veteran driver to exclaim "The Bandit is back" in victory lane.

He did not win again in 1989 but finished seventh in the final points standings.

Harry Gant entered the decade with a win at Pocono in the spring of 1990.

He was later 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, "High Groove Harry" after the high line he often took through the corner, and "Hard Luck Harry" for numerous second place finishes in the beginning of his career and later numerous mechanical failures and crashes not of his own doing while leading or running well with Mach I racing.

The North Carolina native began his racing career at the old dirt track in Hickory.

He built a hobby class car with his friends, and took turns behind the wheel.

Gant became the full-time driver and won the track championship.

In 1991, Gant had a career year.

He won the 1991 Winston 500 in the spring, gambling on fuel mileage.

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.

He finished 17th in the final points standings, with 6 top 5s and 9 top 10s.