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BRISTOL, TN – MARCH 21: Harry Gant prepares to drive during the NASCAR Legends UARA Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, 2009 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett\/Getty Images for NASCAR)<\/p>\n
When the NASCAR<\/a> Hall of Fame announced the Class of 2026, the name of Harry Gant was revealed along with Kurt Busch and Ray Hendrick.<\/p>\n One thing for sure, Gant didn\u2019t follow the usual route of many drivers to the big leagues of NASCAR and into the Hall of Fame<\/a>. Matter of fact, he was a homebuilder before the racing world got to know \u201cHandsome Harry\u201d and his winning ways.<\/p>\n Hammering Houses Before the Gas<\/p>\n The now 85-year-old native of Taylorsville, NC plied his days with plywood and lumber before steering his way to the short tracks. He didn\u2019t make his first NCS start until he was 33 years of age, doing so at Charlotte in 1973.<\/p>\n \u201cI was surprised and caught off guard when they announced my name to the NASCAR Hall of Fame,\u201d Gant said Sunday during a Charlotte Media Availability. \u201cI\u2019ve looked forward to this for a long time, so I appreciate the honor.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I would just keep doing what I was doing building houses back in the day. I started racing Saturday nights. Then, it became racing a short track race on Friday and Saturday, that led to running on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It just kept growing.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been a race fan. I saw my first race here at Charlotte then went to Darlington in 1955. The Winston Cup cars would run 10 races a year at Hickory Motor Speedway and then some at North Wilkesboro.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started racing, I started racing late in life. It was a few races a year then it became 70 to 80 a year as time went on.\u201d<\/p>\n How Gant Became \u201cMr. September\u201d<\/p>\n In 1991, Gant and his famous No. 33 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile set the racing world on its ear. Winning any NCS race is tough, twice is great and three times earns even more accolades.<\/p>\n Gant and the Leo Jackson-owned team led by crew chief Andy Petree won once, then twice, three times and finally four times\u2026consecutively. For that incredible feat, Gant became known as \u201cMr. September\u201d for those victories at Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville.<\/p>\n \u201cI was young, I was hungry and I wanted to win,\u201d Gant said. \u201cThat was the whole thing, if you wanted to race you wanted to win. If you\u2019re not winning, you\u2019re not going to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Still untouched today, that winning streak helped solidify Gant for this Hall of Fame honors. When his career ended, \u201cHandsome Harry\u201d won 18 NCS races in 474 starts with 123 top fives, 208 top 10s and 17 poles. He also made 128 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts winning 21 times while earning 52 top fives, 71 top 1os and 14 poles.<\/p>\n Hall of Fame Neighbor<\/p>\n During those early days, Gant had a certain neighbor he grew up watching. Living a few miles away was Rex White, the 1960 NASCAR Champion and 2015 NHoF inductee.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Rex won the championship, he was at every race,\u201d Gant said. \u201cHe raced all the time. We would go in a group to watch the races and pulled for Rex because he was from our town.<\/p>\n \u201cHe lived three miles from where I lived, he\u2019d park his car there when he was racing close by in North Wilkesboro or here in Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n Gant and his fellow inductees will be honored January 24, 2026.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTim Packman<\/a> Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.
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\nTim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stories for multiple tracks in the area, namely Lancaster National Speedway. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.
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\nThe announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.
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\nFrom 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.
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\nUpon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.
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\nTim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”
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\nHe also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n