LEO  JACKSON

07-08-1933 - 11-06-2023

Leo Jackson had better luck after he and brother Richard parted ways at the end of 1989.  The newly renamed Leo Jackson Motorsports still held onto the #33 and hired Harry Gant to drive his equipment.  Gant would wheel the Skoal Bandit through 1994.  Gant would win in 1990 just 13 races into the partnership at Pocono.  1991 was much better for Gant, as he finished 3rd in points and won four consecutive races late in the season, which began a "Life Begins at 51" campaign because Gant was the oldest winner in the history of the sport.  Gant would post five wins that season, including the Southern 500.   He followed that up with his final two career wins in 1992 and a fourth-place finish in points.  In 1993 & 1994, he didn't win but had a pole each year as well as an eleventh-place finish in points in 1993.  During his retirement year in 1994, LJM began grooming his replacement, and Robert Pressley, ran three races for the team in the #54 sponsored by Manheim Auctions.  His best finish was 31st.  He moved to the #33 full-time in 1995, where he posted a tenth-place at Bristol, and finished runner-up to Ricky Craven for Rookie of the Year. 1996 was a struggle for Pressley and the team, when Pressley was running decently before having to miss the first race at Dover Downs (he was replaced by Greg Sacks).  Around this time, Jackson was contemplating retirement and began looking to sell the team.  His buyer was his crew chief at the time, Andy Petree.  For Jackson's solo career as an owner; his drivers posted eight wins in seven seasons.  (See "Andy Petree" to see how this team continued)

 

Harry Gant 1991

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