NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction: David Pearson 2011

David Gene Pearson (born December 22, 1934) is a former American stock car racer from Spartanburg, South Carolina.[1] Pearson began his NASCAR career in 1960 and ended his first season by winning the 1960 NASCAR Rookie of the Year award.[1] He won three championships (1966, 1968, and 1969) every year he ran the full schedule in NASCAR's Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series).[1] NASCAR described his 1974 season as an indication of his "consistent greatness"; that season he finished third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races.[2]

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."[2] Pearson ended his career in 1986, and currently holds the second position on NASCAR's all-time win list with 105 victories; as well as achieving 113 pole positions.[1] Pearson was successful in different venues of racing; he won three times on road courses, 48 times on superspeedways, 54 time on short tracks, and had 23 dirt track wins.[1] Pearson finished with at least one Top 10 finish in each of his 27 seasons.[1] Pearson was nicknamed the "Fox" (and later the "Silver Fox") for his calculated approach to racing.[3] ESPN described him as being a "plain-spoken, humble man, and that added up to very little charisma."[4]

Pearson's career paralleled Richard Petty's, the driver who won the most races in NASCAR history.[5] They accounted for 63 first/second place finishes [5] (with the edge going to Pearson). Petty said, "Pearson 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."[5]