Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant were inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association in ceremonies held Saturday night at the Darlington Country Club. Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion who won 84 races and now serves as an analyst on Fox Sports’ NASCAR telecasts, remembered seeing Darlington Raceway on television as a boy. “I remember in 1965 when Cale Yarborough went out of the track in Turn 1,” Waltrip said. “I was watching on television and said, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ And that was before I even knew Cale.” Darlington is also the track where Yarborough hung the nickname “Jaws” on his frequent rival. Waltrip was inducted by his brother, Michael, while Johnny Bruce inducted Gant. Gant had 18 career victories, including four straight in a memorable streak in 1991 in which he won four straight races in the same month to earn the nickname “Mr. September.” Bruce, a long-time associate and friend of Gant’s, remembered the driver’s matter-of-fact approach to things. “Harry’s thing was always, ‘It ain’t no big deal,'” Bruce said. “Harry, this is a big deal.”(from ThatsRacin.com )(9-1-2003)
