953 nut 58,999 #1 Posted September 22, 2016 9-22-1991 Harry Gant becomes NASCAR’s Mr. September When September appears on the calendar there is one driver who pops into my head – Harry Gant. He will always be “Mr. September” to me for more reasons than the number of wins he earned during that month in 1991. Gant began his career in NASCAR Winston Cup racing in his ‘40s and was competitive into his ‘50s, a time considered the autumn of one’s competitive life. Gant’s driving career has always enthralled me because he became a rookie in the Cup series at the age of 39 in 1979 and raced for Rookie of the Year against the likes of Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte, men who were a decade or more younger. He didn’t win that contest – Earnhardt did – and placed fourth while driving the No. 47 Race Hill Farm car for Jack Beebe. Arguably, Gant’s best and most notable season in Winston Cup came in 1991. He posted his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway for the Winston 500 run in May. It was a fuel mileage outcome that found Gant reportedly running out of gas directly after taking the checkered flag. Gant wouldn’t score again until September. The Heinz Southern 500 was held on Sept 1st and saw Gant take top honors. He followed that with wins at Richmond on Sept 7th, Dover on Sept 15th, and Martinsville on Sept 22nd. It seemed Gant was unstoppable. During the race at Martinsville he crashed on Lap 377 in Turn 3. Most thought Gant’s chances to win the race – his fourth in a row – were dashed. Gant’s team remedied the situation the best they could and sent him back out to make up laps. Gant charged through the field and with 50 laps to go passed race leader Brett Bodine. Gant won, earned the fourth consecutive victory and tied the modern era record for such a feat with Earnhardt. Following the wreck, TV commentator and former NASCAR Champion, Benny Parsons made the statement that there was no way that Gant could win his fourth consecutive race. “If Harry Gant wins this race I will eat my hat” Parsons said. The following week Parsons was presented a Hat Shaped cake to eat on camera during the race coverage, he said it was delicious. Gant was well on his way to a fifth consecutive win when he won the pole for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sept 29th. Gant was leading the race when Earnhardt passed him with 12 laps remaining. Gant had to settle for second. During this same period Gant also won three consecutive Bush Grand National races. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
