While there are a number of challenging tracks on the NASCAR stock car racing circuit, few have earned the fearsome reputation of South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway. Known as ‘the track too tough to tame’, its shaped like an egg with a surface that shreds tires. Some of the best drivers–including NASCAR’s ‘King’ Richard Petty never mastered it. David Person, on the other hand, dominated at Darlington. He won 10 races and won 12 poles–both records that will likely never be broken. He actually made the ‘track too tough to tame’ look downright easy.
David Pearson was born three days before Christmas’34 in a tough textile town near the North Carolina/South Carolina border called Whitney. His parents both worked in the local mill and did their best to provide. David quit school after the 10th grade and also worked in the mill. He was soon drawn away by his love of fast cars. He bought his own car and began racing at short tracks in the area. He ran his first race in’52 in Woodruff, South Carolina and won his first championship at the old Greenville/Pickens Speedway in’59.
Pearson never really sought much more than this local fame and success, but a couple of his friends and some fans had loftier ambitions”they began raising money to buy a car to compete in the NASCAR Grand National series (which was the forerunner to today’s Sprint Cup series). With the financial backing from friends and family, David began racing a limited schedule on the Grand National circuit and was named the’60 rookie of the year. In’61, he became the first driver to win on 3 of 4 superspeedways in the same year (Charlotte, Daytona, Atlanta). Success beget sponsors, whos dollars allowed him to afford better cars and crew. This brought about championships”he won three Grand National titles in’66,’68 and’69.
During the 70′s, Pearson specialized in superspeedway racing. Through the end of the’70s, Pearson won 43 races. In addition to his mastery of Darlington, he posted remarkable numbers all over the circuit. He is one of two men to have won more than 100 races, and his 105 is second only to The King Richard Petty’s 200 wins. Hes also second on career poles (113) to Petty. Head to head, however, he has a slight edge over NASCARs legendary King: in races where he and Petty finished 1-2, Pearson won 33 to Petty’s 30. His 11 consecutive poles at Charlotte is a feat that will likely never be matched. Another record that may never be broken is his’.29% winning percentage, as well as his record of starting from the pole in 20% of the races he ran.
In March, 2000, SC Highway 221 through Spartanburg County was renamed David Pearson Boulevard in his honor. He lives in Spartanburg to this day. Pearson still takes to the track occasionally–he and current NASCAR driver Carl Edwards were the first to race on the newly repaved Darlington Raceway last Spring. We should all hope to be able to run with a 20 something NASCAR driver when we’re in our mid 70′s. Incidentally, he got the nickname Silver Fox due to his prematurely gray hair and cunning style behind the wheel.
Ross Everett is a staff handicapper for Oddsbay and an expert on World Cup soccer betting. He has written extensively on sports betting, drag racing, travel, and fencing. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with four dogs and a pair of racing wombats.
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racing is the first thing in my heart and i also love to join auto racing for the adrenalin rush ;;.