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Every year when autumn rolls around and NASCAR’s top teams head to Dover, Delaware to race I unfailingly think back to the magical fall of 1991.

Just as resplendent as the forest foliage that year was Harry Gant, an immensely popular driver from Taylorsville, N.C.

Gant won four in a row 24 seasons ago,  and except for the failure of a 10-cent O-ring in his car’s braking system, he almost certainly would have made it five straight.

I know, I know. Several drivers have won four races in a row.

And in 1967, Richard Petty strung together an incredible , never-to-be-matched 10 straight victories en route to a 27-win season on what’s now the Sprint Cup circuit.

However, Petty had just turned 30 at the time of his streak.

Harry Gant was 51 when he won four in a row! FIFTY-ONE! That’s an age when most race drivers have long since retired–or should have.

Gant started his streak by winning the Southern 500, a race he had dreamed of taking since boyhood when he sat in the backstretch grandstand at Darlington Raceway with his dad. He won impressively, too, leading the final 70 laps and finishing 10.97 seconds ahead of runner-up Ernie Irvan.

The competition was a bit tougher the next weekend at Richmond Raceway. Gant grabbed the lead with only 19 laps remaining and managed to hold off a fast-closing Davey Allison by four car lengths.

“Hurryin’ Harry” enjoyed a relative laugher the following week at Dover International Speedway, where a 400-miler is scheduled Sunday.  He led 330 laps in the Peak 500. His Olds fielded by a Leo Jackson-led team was so strong that he rather easily lapped the field.

It was no laughing matter, however, on Sept. 22 of ’91 at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway. Gant was sent spinning by Rusty Wallace when they collided while battling for the lead near the midpoint of the race. Gant went backward into the wall, and two others then hit his car. It appeared his streak was over.

However, Gant somehow managed to stay on the lead lap. During repeated pit stops in the ensuing seven-lap caution period, his crew managed to get the fenders pulled away from the tires, and get loose sheet metal duct-taped back into place.

Gant restarted in 12th position, and it was obvious he was a man on a mission. To the cheers of a crowd that seemingly was unanimous in support of him, Gant steadily picked off the drivers ahead of him. Finally, there was only one, Brett Bodine. Gant whipped around Bodine on the 454th lap and won by a second.

His green and white No. 33 Olds looked like it had been in a demolition derby. Gant chuckled at the sight.

“It’s pretty remarkable to win in a car this torn up,” he said. “I didn’t think about maybe winning again until we got back in the top five, then I noticed the cars in front of me weren’t running any better than mine was.”

Said Bodine, “We ran as good as we could against a guy who can do no wrong.”

In Gant’s hometown of Taylorsville, N.C., proud local fans of the personable driver had made a practice of flying a flag bearing his car number, 33, and the green/white team colors in front of City Hall for a week following each of his victories. Now, the flag had been rippling in the breeze in the foothills town for a month, and wags were joking about Harry winning so much the banner was becoming frayed around the edges.

Congratulations poured in to Harry from all over, including messages from other well-known veteran athletes. Among these was the legendary baseball pitcher, Nolan Ryan.

As Bodine had suggested, it certainly appeared that Gant and the Jackson team were unbeatable as NASCAR’s top tour went to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 on Sept. 29. Harry won the pole and immediately surged ahead, leading the first 252 laps. On the 294th of the race’s 400 laps he regained the lead and built an edge of about seven seconds.

On Lap 392, through, Gant slowed markedly, and Dale Earnhardt swept ahead to lead the rest of the way, snapping the streak that had gripped the sports world.

“The brake pedal went swoosh,” said a resigned Gant. “I had zero brakes after the O-ring failed. I had to let Earnhardt go, because we would have wrecked if I had tried to race him. I don’t do people like that.”

Gant triumphed five times overall in 1991, and he won twice in ’92. Among the latter triumphs was the Budweiser 500 at Dover, making Harry at age 52 the oldest driver ever to win a 500-mile race. After winless seasons in 1993-94, he decided to retire, ending his career with 18 victories.

Harry now devotes his time to tending farm near Taylorsville and riding a Harley-Davidson with old pals from racing.

The way he made senior citizens proud almost a quarter-century ago will live forever in NASCAR lore.