Harry Gant was driver that never got the main stream attention during his career but he always stayed above relevance throughout his career and competing at high level while being up in age with younger drivers trying to knock him down but failed every single time.
Chapter 1
Building at Home
Harry Gant's career started in his home state of North Carolina as Harry built hobby class car with group of his friends who took turns behind the wheel then Harry decided to run full-time where he won the track championship at Hickory Speedway. Harry Gant would excelled on the new asphalt at Hickory which lead to his 1st of 300 win with crew chief/car chief Kenneth Sigmon in the Sportsman Division while leading Gant to 3 consecutive championships in 1972,1973 and 1974 which lead to him jumping into the big leagues.
Chapter 2
Surviving in Part-Time Land
Harry Gant would make his Cup Series debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he finished 11th which kickoff stretch of running part-time from 1973-1978 where he ran average of 1 race per season with multiple stints at several race teams. Harry Gant made 12 starts during that span as he managed to score 3 top 10 finishes with best finish of 7th at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1978 for Kernie Childers Racing which lead to the team getting interest for Harry Gant heading into 1979 season.
Chapter 3
Full-time without Home
Harry Gant would drive 12 car for Kernie Childers Racing full-time in 1979 but after 3 races the team decided to release Gant which forced him to move over to Race Hill Farm Racing to drive the 47 car for rest of 1979 as Gant scored 5 top 10's and finished 21st in points. Harry Gant continued to run full-time with multiple race teams but stayed at competitive level throughout that span as he managed to score 9 top 5's,14 top 10's and finished 11th in points during 1980 season then Harry would have his breakout season in 1981 when he drove for 5 different teams were he managed to score 10 top 5's,15 top 10's and Finished 3rd in points.
Chapter 4
The Smokey Era
Harry Gant moved over to March 1 Racing to drive the 33 Skoal Bandit vehicle full-time for 1982 season were were he scored his 1st career win at Martinsville then another win at Charlotte to finish the season 4th in points with 2 wins,9 top 5's and 16 top 10's. Harry Gant continued to compete at high level by scoring 7 wins during the next 3 seasons were he managed to finish inside the top 5 in points during 2 of the 3 seasons with best points finish of 2nd in 1984 but the would hit massive decline in performance as Gant finished to finish inside the top 10 in points for next 3 seasons which lead to change.
Chapter 5
Fighting off Father Time
Harry Gant would move his entire 33 Skoal Bandit team to Jackson Bro Motorsports for 1989 season were he managed to finish 7th in points while returning to victory lane with win at Darlington while scoring 9 top 5's and 14 top 10's. Harry Gant would have rough 1990 season were he finished 17th in points despite winning Pocono but next 2 seasons were amazing for Harry Gant as he would have career year in 1991 were he scored 5 wins but the 4 wins came consecutively as Harry Gant became the 1st driver in nascar history to win ever race in September while becoming the oldest driver to win race then finished the season 4th in points with 5 wins,15 top 5's and 17 top 10's then continued the competitive fire heading into 1992 where he scored his final 2 wins at Dover and Michigan while having shot at winning the championship but finished 4th in points with 2 wins,10 top 5's and 15 top 10's.
Chapter 6
Father Time Wins
Harry Gant was unable to rekindle that competitive fire for remainder of his career as Harry Gant regressed during the 1993 season were he managed to score 4 top 5's and 12 top 10's while finishing 11th in points which lead to Harry Gant announcing 1994 as his farewell tour. Harry Gant struggled mightily throughout the 1994 season were he managed to run majority of the races while scoring 7 top 10 finishes during the season and finished disappointing 25th in points to close his Cup Series career with 18 career wins but quietly cameback to race in 1996 for Bill Elliott in All Star Race while running Truck Series were he finished 24th in points with 4 top 10's.
Chapter 7
Life After Racing
Harry Gant currently lives in Taylorsville, North Carolina were he owns 300 acre ranch were he rides his motorcycle while being carpenter during his spare time but his nascar legacy was forever noticed by nascar as he was apart of Nascar's 50 greatest drivers and inducted into International Motorsports and National Motorsports Hall of Fame's respective.
Comment