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Sprint Cup
CUP: 1976 Defined Pearson’s Greatness
David Pearson was named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame's second class on Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C...
David Pearson won 10 times in 1976. (Photo: Courtesy of NASCAR)
David Pearson, named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Wednesday in a landslide vote, won the Cup championship in 1966, 1968 and 1969, but, for many who followed his legendary career, 1976 will be remembered as The Year of the Silver Fox.
Pearson’s statistics from that landmark season, when his No. 21 Wood Brothers cars were dynamite at virtually every track he drove into, are simply phenomenal. He entered 22 of the season’s 30 races. He won 10 times, finished in the top five 16 times and in the top 10 a remarkable 18 times.
Pearson failed to finish only four races that season, and only one of those was because of a crash (Pearson being one of the best in NASCAR history at anticipating and/or avoiding wrecks).
He won at most of NASCAR’s big tracks that year, and he took care of the highlight early, winning the Daytona 500 in the famous last-lap battle with Richard Petty, one that ended with the two stock car giants crashing in the fourth turn on the last lap. Pearson recovered quicker and chugged across the finish line at about 30 mph to win the race.
He backed up that performance with wins at Atlanta and Darlington and then put together three straight at Charlotte, Riverside and Michigan entering the summer months.
Pearson rolled into Talladega, Ala., the first week of August having won in seven of his 14 appearances for the season. People were wondering if the Wood Brothers team had somehow Star-Treked up its Mercurys to give Pearson an extra nudge.
On the opening day of practice at Talladega that week, Pearson stopped in the garage to join a small group of sports writers who were Cup tour regulars. No one had been to his garage stall to pepper him with questions that morning, perhaps because everyone had run out of things to ask him, his wins having become almost expected.
“Are you boys tired of writing about me?” Pearson asked no one in particular.
Pearson was mostly kidding, but it was a good question. Drivers like Pearson, Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough were so dominant in those days that media people who were regulars on the beat frequently recycled stories about those who raced up front every week. By midseason, the traveling media knew virtually everything there was to know about Pearson and had reported most of it.
He won three more races – at Michigan, Darlington and Ontario, Calif. – that year.
Despite racing part-time, Pearson had a year that was so productive that he was named American Driver of the Year – an award that includes all major motorsports – for the second time.
Pearson traveled to New York City to receive the Driver of the Year trophy. A confirmed country boy from a textile mill village in upperstate South Carolina, Pearson was out of his element in the big city.
Appropriately, however, the banquet at which Pearson received the award was held at the famous 21 Club, chosen more for its location but, happily, fitting in perfectly with the great car number Pearson had driven to the grandest performances of his career.
It was the perfect ending to an almost perfect season.
Pearson would have other magic moments before his career ended in 1986 – and then only because of recurring back problems.
He retired with 105 victories, 113 poles, three championships and the respect of top drivers across the wide spectrum of motorsports. He was considered a top threat on short asphalt tracks, dirt tracks, road courses and superspeedways. He once ran some test laps – mostly as a lark – in an Indy car and outran the Indy car regulars. He expressed no interest in following up.
Now Pearson will join the other greats already in the Hall of Fame. It’s a stamp of validity for one of NASCAR’s all-time best competitors, although few who saw him race and win needed the confirmation.
Pearson certainly doesn’t.
Asked Wednesday if he was the greatest NASCAR driver ever, he said, “I guess I am. That’s what Richard [Petty] says. If you don’t think you’re the best, you don’t have any business being out there because you’re going to get beat. Whoever you think is the best is going to beat you.”
Pearson said he is pleased to be elected “because you never know what’s going to happen. It makes you feel good, and I’m glad and proud of it.”
In somewhat of a surprise, he wasn’t elected as part of the hall’s first class last year.
“Now I’m in, and I appreciate it,” he said.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Pearson’s statistics from that landmark season, when his No. 21 Wood Brothers cars were dynamite at virtually every track he drove into, are simply phenomenal. He entered 22 of the season’s 30 races. He won 10 times, finished in the top five 16 times and in the top 10 a remarkable 18 times.
Pearson failed to finish only four races that season, and only one of those was because of a crash (Pearson being one of the best in NASCAR history at anticipating and/or avoiding wrecks).
He won at most of NASCAR’s big tracks that year, and he took care of the highlight early, winning the Daytona 500 in the famous last-lap battle with Richard Petty, one that ended with the two stock car giants crashing in the fourth turn on the last lap. Pearson recovered quicker and chugged across the finish line at about 30 mph to win the race.
He backed up that performance with wins at Atlanta and Darlington and then put together three straight at Charlotte, Riverside and Michigan entering the summer months.
Pearson rolled into Talladega, Ala., the first week of August having won in seven of his 14 appearances for the season. People were wondering if the Wood Brothers team had somehow Star-Treked up its Mercurys to give Pearson an extra nudge.
On the opening day of practice at Talladega that week, Pearson stopped in the garage to join a small group of sports writers who were Cup tour regulars. No one had been to his garage stall to pepper him with questions that morning, perhaps because everyone had run out of things to ask him, his wins having become almost expected.
“Are you boys tired of writing about me?” Pearson asked no one in particular.
Pearson was mostly kidding, but it was a good question. Drivers like Pearson, Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough were so dominant in those days that media people who were regulars on the beat frequently recycled stories about those who raced up front every week. By midseason, the traveling media knew virtually everything there was to know about Pearson and had reported most of it.
He won three more races – at Michigan, Darlington and Ontario, Calif. – that year.
Despite racing part-time, Pearson had a year that was so productive that he was named American Driver of the Year – an award that includes all major motorsports – for the second time.
Pearson traveled to New York City to receive the Driver of the Year trophy. A confirmed country boy from a textile mill village in upperstate South Carolina, Pearson was out of his element in the big city.
Appropriately, however, the banquet at which Pearson received the award was held at the famous 21 Club, chosen more for its location but, happily, fitting in perfectly with the great car number Pearson had driven to the grandest performances of his career.
It was the perfect ending to an almost perfect season.
VIDEO: NASCAR HOF - 2011 Inductees David Pearson is named to the 2011 NHoF class. (Image: SPEED)
Pearson would have other magic moments before his career ended in 1986 – and then only because of recurring back problems.
He retired with 105 victories, 113 poles, three championships and the respect of top drivers across the wide spectrum of motorsports. He was considered a top threat on short asphalt tracks, dirt tracks, road courses and superspeedways. He once ran some test laps – mostly as a lark – in an Indy car and outran the Indy car regulars. He expressed no interest in following up.
Now Pearson will join the other greats already in the Hall of Fame. It’s a stamp of validity for one of NASCAR’s all-time best competitors, although few who saw him race and win needed the confirmation.
Pearson certainly doesn’t.
Asked Wednesday if he was the greatest NASCAR driver ever, he said, “I guess I am. That’s what Richard [Petty] says. If you don’t think you’re the best, you don’t have any business being out there because you’re going to get beat. Whoever you think is the best is going to beat you.”
Pearson said he is pleased to be elected “because you never know what’s going to happen. It makes you feel good, and I’m glad and proud of it.”
In somewhat of a surprise, he wasn’t elected as part of the hall’s first class last year.
“Now I’m in, and I appreciate it,” he said.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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