How can anyone leave out Pearson as one of the greatest drivers 2nd only to Petty with 105 wins he only drove 11 years in nascar and only ran a full schedule 4 times? thats an average of 9.5 wins a year pretty impressive i think!
2007-03-01 14:27:07 · 8 answers · asked by Billy S 6 in Sports ➔ Auto Racing ➔ NASCAR
Pearson, based on percentage of wins against starts, is hands down the best ever. And I'm an Earnhardt fan. But when I was a kid, Pearson was my man. I liked Lorenzen when he drove for Holman-Moody.
Story goes, while Pearson was having his streak of consecutive Poles at Charlotte, Humpy Wheeler, with that evil little smirk, approached David and told him. "I got you this year, no Pole for you. I fixed that bump in Turn 4."
Pearson climbed into his car and proceeded to set the record for consecutive Poles.
As David climbed out of the car, Humpy strolled over to see a smiling Pearson who uttered, "You fixed the wrong bump."
Pearson only truly competed for 4 Cups and won 3 of them. He won 18.29 % of all races he ran. He was on the Pole in 1 of every 5 of the 574 races he ran.
From August 8, 1963, through June 12, 1977, Petty and Pearson finished first and second to each other an amazing 63 times. Pearson won 33, Petty, 30.
Petty, in the March 1993 issue of Stock Car Racing Magazine, said, "Writers were asking me last year who was the best driver I ever raced against. I told them David Pearson. David and I ran more firsts and seconds than anybody else, and we raced together on dirt tracks, superspeedways, road courses, big tracks and little tracks. It didn't make any difference, you had to beat him every week."
2007-03-01 15:39:16 · answer #1 · answered by crunch 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes he is often left off of list because he is from the old school do drivers.The drivers in the 60's and 70's were laying the ground work for todays drivers.David Pearson drove the superspeedways more than any other tracks.He developed a style driving that could not be beat.
If drivers like Pearson had not paved the way todays drivers would not be where they are today.
2007-03-02 00:26:35 · answer #2 · answered by blakree 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pearson was one of the best of the 60s and 70s. Winning at Darlington is tough and Pearson did it often. I think he was a better talent than Petty, but he ran way fewer races. I believe Pearson, Fred Lorentzen, Cale Yarborough and Morgan Shepard are the most underrated stock car drivers of all time. Wood Brothers fielded a great car for Pearson, too.
2007-03-01 14:34:31 · answer #3 · answered by artsy5347 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're right! Pearson was easily in the top three of all time. Think about this: For a short while in the early seventies, the Wood Brothers had two drivers; David Pearson and A.J. Foyt. Probably the most talent under one roof before or since.
2007-03-02 04:23:30 · answer #4 · answered by jamesedge 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pearson was an awesome driver. It's hard to think that anyone who calls themselves a NASCAR fan couldn't put him at the top of the list. It seems like everyone is ready to crown Dale Sr. the Emperor of NASCAR. (He was great, don't get me wrong.) But with think of names like Petty and Pearson, Dale's stats don't quite match up. Granted Dale is the best driver of the modern era. But first and second list on my all time list is Petty and Pearson.
2007-03-02 03:40:23 · answer #5 · answered by RCandMoonPie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
David Pearson was awesome especially for only a part-time racer!!!
2007-03-02 06:02:56 · answer #6 · answered by paul_gchs 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lest We not forget, FireBall Roberts and, Curtis Turner.
2007-03-01 15:45:24 · answer #7 · answered by ny21tb 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It would be hard!!!
2007-03-01 14:30:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋