David Pearson (racing driver)

David Gene Pearson (December 22, 1934 – November 12, 2018) was an American stock car driver, who raced from 1960 to 1986 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 21 Mercury for Wood Brothers Racing. Pearson won the 1960 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award^[2] and three Cup Series championships (1966, 1968, and 1969). He never missed a race in the years he was active.^[2] NASCAR described his 1974 season as an indication of his "consistent greatness", finishing third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races.^[3] Pearson's career paralleled Richard Petty's, the driver who has won the most races in NASCAR history.^[4] They accounted for 63 first/second-place finishes, with the edge going to Pearson. Petty had 200 wins in 1,184 starts, while Pearson had 105 wins in 574 starts. Pearson was nicknamed the "Fox" (and later the "Silver Fox") for his calculated approach to racing.^[5]

At his finalist nomination for NASCAR Hall of Fame's inaugural 2010 class, NASCAR described Pearson as "... the model of NASCAR efficiency during his career. With little exaggeration, when Pearson showed up at a race track, he won."^[3] Pearson ended his career in 1986, and holds the second position on NASCAR's all-time win list with 105 victories; as well as achieving 113 pole positions.^[2] Pearson was successful in different venues of racing; he won three times on road courses, 48 times on superspeedways, 54 times on short tracks, and had 23 dirt track wins.^[2] Pearson finished with at least one Top 10 finish in each of his 27 seasons. ESPN described him as being a "plain-spoken, humble man, and that added up to...."^[6]

Petty had high praises for Pearson, saying, "He could beat you on a short track, he could beat you on a superspeedway, he could beat you on a road course, he could beat you on a dirt track. It didn't hurt as bad to lose to Pearson as it did to some of the others, because I knew how good he was."^[4] Pearson said of Petty: "I always felt that if I beat him I beat the best, and I heard he said the same thing about me." Petty went further by saying that he believed Pearson would have pulled off 200 victories like him, if he ran the full schedules of NASCAR racing.

Background

Pearson was born near Spartanburg, South Carolina. When Pearson was young, he climbed a tree at the local stock car racing track (Spartanburg Fairgrounds) to see the races. Pearson said, "I'd always been interested in cars, and I decided right then that was what I wanted to do with my life." He worked with his brother in a car body repair shop and used the money earned to purchase a Ford coach. Pearson removed the fenders to convert the vehicle into a street rod. He jumped the car over ditches until he rolled it over. His mother paid him to junk the car, and he used the money to purchase another car to build. In 1952, he raced a 1940 Ford at dirt tracks and won $30 in an outlaw class race. He kept winning and attracted the attention of Spartanburg's racing community, including Joe Littlejohn.^[7]

Career

1960s

Pearson began racing in

When Pearson bent the frame of his own race car early in the 1961 season, he began working as a house roofer in Spartanburg to support his family, which included two sons.

After Pearson had a successful test run, he qualified the car with the third fastest time behind Richard Petty and Joe Weatherly. Pearson raced his way into the lead early in the event and was the leader after the first round of pit stops. Pearson and Petty were the only two cars on the lead lap by a restart on the 311th lap (of 400). Petty made up six seconds on Pearson in 20 laps before Petty had to retire with a blown engine. Pearson held a three lap lead over Fireball Roberts and was leading late in the race until he ran over some debris on the backstretch and blew a tire with only two laps remaining. Pearson drove the car around the track slowly for the final lap at approximately 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) to take the victory.^[11]

He started in 19 races during the 1961 season and he had three wins to finish thirteenth in season points,

Pearson started in only 12 of 53 events in 1962 yet managed to finish tenth in season points.[14] Pearson began the season racing for Fox until Fox retired;^[7] he started for Petty Enterprises, Cotton Owens, and Bud Moore that season.^[15] He had seven top ten finishes and no wins.^[15] During 41 starts in 55 races, Pearson finished the 1963 season sixth in points for Cotton Owens.^[16] He held two pole positions and had no wins.^[17][18]

In 1964, he had eight wins at

Pearson won his third and final championship in his final season running the full schedule in 1969.[31] The championship tied Pearson with Lee Petty for the most championships in NASCAR history (Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson hold the current record with seven titles each).^[24] He started out the season at the 1969 Daytona 500 by being the first driver to qualify faster than 190 miles per hour with a speed of 190.029 miles per hour (305.822 km/h).^[7][32]

In 51 starts, he had 11 wins, 42 top-fives, and 44 top-tens. He earned a record $229,760 for his effort.^[31] Pearson completed 14,270 laps in 1969, which is the most laps ever in a NASCAR Cup season.^[33] He was one of eleven drivers to boycott the first race at Talladega after concerns with the tires; he rejoined the tour at the following event.^[24]

1970s

The 1970 season started with Pearson competing part-time, as he would for the rest of his career. Pearson led the Daytona 500 under caution with 13 laps remaining and changed only his right side tires in a two-tire pit stop. Pete Hamilton did a four-tire stop and passed Pearson after the restart for the victory.^[34] In 19 starts, he won a single race (Darlington) and earned two pole positions (Bristol, Darlington) to finish 23rd in points.^[35]

The

Pearson finished 13th in the 1977 NASCAR points, with two wins in 22 (of 30) races.[58] IROC invited him to participate in IROC IV in 1976/77 and he finished ninth in the four race series.^[59]

He competed in 22 races (of 30) again in 1978, winning four times for a 16th-place finish in the season points.

Pearson began 1979 by winning the pole position at year's first race at Riverside; he finished in second place.[62] 1979 was Pearson's final season racing for the Wood Brothers,^[40] with his last race happening at Darlington.^[62] After a miscommunication, he left the pits without waiting for the pit crew to place lug nuts on the car and the tires fell off the car when he reached the end of pit lane.^[26] Pearson quit the team after the race.^[26] Pearson had won 43 races between 1972 and 79 while driving for the Wood Brothers.^[40] Later during the season, Rod Osterlund's rookie driver, Dale Earnhardt, suffered a shoulder injury.^[26] Osterlund hired Pearson to replace Earnhardt during four races; he collected the pole position at Michigan and won the 1979 Southern 500.^[26][62] For the season, Pearson had competed in nine races and finished 32nd in points.^[63] Fans voted him as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver.^[64]

1980s

Pearson raced for

Pearson raced in twelve races during 1985, the first eight for Hoss Ellington and the final four for himself.[74] He had an average start of 9.2, but ten DNFs resulted in an average finish over 30th place. He had one top ten finish at the July Daytona race and finished 36th in points.^[74][75] 1986 was Pearson's final season in NASCAR. Pearson drove his own car in two events. After a DNF at Charlotte, he finished tenth in his final race at the August Michigan event.^[76]

After a three-year hiatus, Pearson planned to come out of retirement in 1989, replacing the injured Neil Bonnett in the Wood Brothers' No. 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Following testing for the event, however, he suffered severe neck and back pain, and chose instead to announce his retirement; Tommy Ellis replaced Pearson for the race.^[77]

Legacy

The National Motor Sports Press Association's Hall of Fame inducted Pearson in 1991,

In 2009, Pearson was one of the 25 nominees for the first class to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.^[80] NASCAR named the five people to be inducted in its 2010 class and it stated that he finished between sixth and eighth place.^[81] Pearson left the premises ten minutes after the inductees were announced.^[82] The snub drew public criticism and some writers predicted that he will be the headliner for the 2011 class.^[6][82]

At the induction ceremony, Pearson said that he felt the inaugural class should include more pioneers such as

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

Daytona 500

Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

Personal life

Pearson's wife Helen Ruth Pearson predeceased him in 1991.^[119] He had three sons, Larry Pearson, Ricky Pearson, and Eddie Pearson.^[79] Larry raced in NASCAR and he was the 1986 and 1987 Busch Series champion. Ricky Pearson was general manager and a crew chief for Buckshot Jones/Buckshot Racing when they won two Busch Series races.^[120]

In December 2014, Pearson suffered a mild stroke which partially paralyzed the left half of his body, from which he recovered.^[121] Pearson died on November 12, 2018, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at the age of 83. No cause was given.^[122]

References