David Pearson
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
David Pearson (born December 22, 1934 in Whitney, South Carolina) is a former American racecar driver.
He debuted on the Grand National racing circuit in 1960 and earned "Rookie of the Year" honors for 1961 in his first full season. He went on to win the NASCAR Championship in 1966, 1968, and 1969. Pearson ranks as one of the greatest of all NASCAR drivers and his duels with Richard Petty are legendary. Between August 8, 1963 and June 12, 1977, they finished one/two on sixty-three occasions, with Pearson coming out on top with thirty-three victories. Their most famous encounter came at the 1976 Daytona 500 when the two were running bumper-to-bumper on the final lap. They slammed hard against each other's front fender and both hit the wall. Petty's damaged car spun off the track just twenty-five yards from the finish line and the engine quit running and he could not get it to restart. All Petty could do was sit in his famous #43 and watch as Pearson's wrecked #21 limped across the finish line to claim victory.
David Pearson won the "Most Popular Driver" award in 1979 and 1980. After twenty-six seasons in racing, he retired in 1986. He finished his career in second place behind Richard Petty on NASCAR's all-time win list with 105, and second in all-time pole positions.
In 1990, David Pearson was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Categories: 1934 births | NASCAR drivers | International Motorsports Hall of Fame | People from South Carolina
