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Sprint Cup
CUP: Pearson’s Driving Told His Story
Superspeedway success, three championships put South Carolina driver in Hall of Fame…
Despite the rumors, it is not true that David Pearson has the first dime he ever made.
It is true, however, that the man whose NASCAR Sprint Cup victory total (105) is surpassed only by that of Richard Petty has always been a frugal sort. There is nothing pretentious or flamboyant about him.
His modest home on the outskirts of his hometown of Spartanburg, SC is a relatively small ranch-style residence that could belong to a taxi driver or a shift worker. There is nothing about it that screams, “The man many think is the best stock car racer in history lives here.”
Yet that is how David Pearson likes things, and so it is how they are. He invested his money well – even from the very beginnings of his success, and now, at 76 years old, he is enjoying the benefits of that wisdom even as he retains a lifestyle very similar to that of the average person in his hometown.
In that way – and in many others, Pearson has never changed. He could own a home on an Appalachian mountainside or along the Carolina beaches, but he chooses to be much the same guy who grew up on a textile village near Spartanburg and walks the small-town streets like the men who grew up with him.
The difference? Pearson drove much faster than any of them. And much better. And for most of three decades. And May 23 he’ll receive the supreme compliment for all that with induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.
Pearson is already a member of virtually every other Hall of Fame for which he is qualified. This month’s induction alongside Bud Moore, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett and the late Lee Petty will be the final stamp of approval on a career that carried a small-town boy on a career ride he could never have imagined as a teen-ager interested in fast cars.
Pearson, who learned to race on small dirt ovals in the Carolinas, won 105 races, 113 pole positions and three (1966, ’68 and ’69) Cup championships. He won at least one race for 17 straight seasons and at least one pole for 20 straight years (a Cup record).
He teamed with top car owners Cotton Owens, Holman-Moody and the Wood Brothers in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and starred with each of them. His victory and championship totals likely would have been much higher if he had run fuller schedules more often. Generally, he chose to avoid races of lesser importance, signing on to run longer races that paid better.
His first big paycheck – one he used to buy a house and invest in other real estate in Spartanburg, naturally – came in the 1961 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Pearson had begun racing in the Cup series the previous year and had made enough noise to be heard, but he was still looking for the break that would elevate him to the top level.
That came from car builder Ray Fox, who was looking for a driver for his car for the Charlotte race, then and now one of the season’s most important. Fox took the advice of Spartanburg racers like Owens, Moore and former driver/promoter Joe Littlejohn, all of whom strongly recommended Pearson.
It is true, however, that the man whose NASCAR Sprint Cup victory total (105) is surpassed only by that of Richard Petty has always been a frugal sort. There is nothing pretentious or flamboyant about him.
His modest home on the outskirts of his hometown of Spartanburg, SC is a relatively small ranch-style residence that could belong to a taxi driver or a shift worker. There is nothing about it that screams, “The man many think is the best stock car racer in history lives here.”
Yet that is how David Pearson likes things, and so it is how they are. He invested his money well – even from the very beginnings of his success, and now, at 76 years old, he is enjoying the benefits of that wisdom even as he retains a lifestyle very similar to that of the average person in his hometown.
In that way – and in many others, Pearson has never changed. He could own a home on an Appalachian mountainside or along the Carolina beaches, but he chooses to be much the same guy who grew up on a textile village near Spartanburg and walks the small-town streets like the men who grew up with him.
The difference? Pearson drove much faster than any of them. And much better. And for most of three decades. And May 23 he’ll receive the supreme compliment for all that with induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC.
Pearson is already a member of virtually every other Hall of Fame for which he is qualified. This month’s induction alongside Bud Moore, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett and the late Lee Petty will be the final stamp of approval on a career that carried a small-town boy on a career ride he could never have imagined as a teen-ager interested in fast cars.
Pearson, who learned to race on small dirt ovals in the Carolinas, won 105 races, 113 pole positions and three (1966, ’68 and ’69) Cup championships. He won at least one race for 17 straight seasons and at least one pole for 20 straight years (a Cup record).
He teamed with top car owners Cotton Owens, Holman-Moody and the Wood Brothers in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and starred with each of them. His victory and championship totals likely would have been much higher if he had run fuller schedules more often. Generally, he chose to avoid races of lesser importance, signing on to run longer races that paid better.
His first big paycheck – one he used to buy a house and invest in other real estate in Spartanburg, naturally – came in the 1961 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Pearson had begun racing in the Cup series the previous year and had made enough noise to be heard, but he was still looking for the break that would elevate him to the top level.
That came from car builder Ray Fox, who was looking for a driver for his car for the Charlotte race, then and now one of the season’s most important. Fox took the advice of Spartanburg racers like Owens, Moore and former driver/promoter Joe Littlejohn, all of whom strongly recommended Pearson.
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