Countdown: S. Carolina

Whether it's the Low Country or the Upcountry, the Palmetto State has played a role in two major military conflicts.

After the fall of Charleston in 1780, Francis Marion -- the "Swamp Fox" -- hampered and hounded the British forces in South Carolina with no assistance from the Continential forces in the North. With a militia that never numbered more than 70, Marion used guerrilla warfare to capture supplies and free prisoners.

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Eighty years later, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union -- and the shelling of Fort Sumter by Confederate batteries one year later touched off the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression if you happen to be of the Dixie persuasion.

South Carolina can rightfully be proud of a number of famous African-American natives: educator Mary McLeod Bethune, Soul legend James Brown, baseball's Larry Doby, boxing great "Smokin' " Joe Frazier, tennis star Althea Gibson, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and singer Eartha Kitt all hail from the Palmetto State.

South Carolina is also known for another famous "fox" -- one with 105 NASCAR wins.

Best behind the wheel

• David Pearson, Spartanburg

David Pearson was hooked on racing as soon as he climbed from the window of his 1940 Ford and collected a $13 payday from his first race in 1952, running hobby stocks in Woodruff.

Climbing up through the Sportsman ranks, Pearson decided to give Grand Nationals a try in 1960, running his own cars, starting with the 1960 Daytona 500. He made 22 starts, including his first pole at Sumter, but he failed to finish nearly half of those races. Despite that, his seven top-10s earned him rookie of the year honors.

Pearson quickly learned two things that served him well for the rest of his career: Find someone else to pay the bills, and you can't win if your car doesn't go the distance.

Pearson drove John Masoni's Pontiacs to victory in three of NASCAR's biggest races in 1961 -- winning at Charlotte, Daytona and Atlanta. He failed to land a full-time ride in 1962 but ran three races with Cotton Owens, a partnership that would flower in 1963.

Pearson didn't win, but charted 19 top-10 finishes in 41 starts, setting the stage for a breakout season in 1964, in which he won eight times and collected 12 poles. He finished third in the standings behind Richard Petty and Ned Jarrett.

David Pearson Credit: Daytona Racing Archives

Inside the Numbers Pearson's career stats Year Starts W T5 T10 1960 22 0 3 7 1961 19 3 7 8 1962 12 0 1 7 1963 41 0 13 19 1964 61 8 29 42 1965 14 2 8 11 1966 42 15 26 33 1967 22 2 11 13 1968 48 16 36 38 1969 51 11 42 44 1970 19 1 9 11 1971 17 2 8 9 1972 17 6 12 13 1973 18 11 14 14 1974 19 7 15 15 1975 21 3 13 14 1976 22 10 16 18 1977 22 2 16 16 1978 22 4 11 11 1979 9 1 4 5 1980 9 1 4 5 1981 6 0 0 2 1982 6 0 2 2 1983 10 0 1 4 1984 11 0 0 3 1985 12 0 0 1 1986 2 0 0 1 Total 574 105 301 366

Because Chrysler refused to run its cars in 1965, Pearson missed the first half of the season, winding up with only 14 starts. However, he won two of those and had 11 top-10s.

The Pearson-Owens combination clicked big-time in 1966, as Pearson won 15 races, 10 on dirt tracks, for his first NASCAR championship. Switching to Holman-Moody's Fords near the end of 1967, Pearson repeated as champion in 1968 and 1969, tallying 27 total victories.

When Pearson didn't win, he wasn't far behind. In 1968, he had 36 top-five finishes in 48 starts. The next season was even more impressive, as he posted 42 top-fives in 51 starts.

By 1970, Pearson decided to concentrate solely on the major races, winning only once -- at Darlington. The next season, Ford pulled out of NASCAR racing, leaving Pearson looking for another good ride.

He found it with the Wood Brothers. Over a period from 1972-78, the "Silver Fox" put the No. 21 Mercury in victory lane 43 times -- including eight wins at Michigan, four Southern 500s and the 1976 Daytona 500.

Pearson returned to where it all started -- General Motors and South Carolina -- for his final two victories, winning the 1979 Southern 500 and 1989 Rebel 500 at Darlington in Chevrolets.

With their father's help, Pearson's three sons won Busch Series titles in 1986 and 1987, with Larry at the wheel and Ricky and Eddie in the pits.

Over his 574-race career, Pearson won more than 18 percent of his starts -- third-best all-time behind Herb Thomas and Tim Flock. Pearson is also one of only seven drivers to finish in the top five in at least 50 percent of their career starts.

In 1990, Pearson was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Other noteworthy drivers from South Carolina

• Johnny Allen, Greenville: Won a 200-lapper at Bowman-Gray Stadium in 1962

• L.D. Austin, Greenville: Three times in the top-10 in the final standings in the late '50s

• Curtis Crider, Abbeyville: Sixth in the points in 1964, thanks to 30 top-10s in 59 starts

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• Joe Eubanks, Spartanburg: Scored his lone victory in a 110-lap race at Hillsboro in 1958

• James Hylton, Inman: Longtime campaigner won at Richmond in 1970 and at Talladega in 1972

• Jason Keller, Greenville: Twice a runner-up in the Busch Series, made a pair of Cup starts in 2003

• Ed Livingston, Folly Beach: Fourth at Jacksonville in 1964 was his best finish in 47 appearances

• Roy Mayne, Sumter: Four top-fives in 139 races from 1963-74

• Rick Newsom, Ft. Mill: Ran 82 races over a 14-year period, with two top-15 finishes at Nashville

• Cotton Owens, Spartanburg: Four of his nine career wins came at South Carolina tracks

• Larry Pearson, Spartanburg: Two-time Busch Series champ had three top-10 finishes in Dad's car between 1987 and 1989

• Rex White, Spartanburg: 1960 champion won 28 races during a five-year span, the latest at Atlanta in 1962

• Cale Yarborough, Timmonsville: Three-time NASCAR champion made first start in 1957 as an 18-year-old; won 83 times by the time he hung up the helmet in 1988

We wish ...

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson had become a NASCAR driver.

The Pickens County native -- who was banned from baseball for his alleged role in the 1919 Black Sox scandal -- earned his nickname while playing ball in his home state. According to the legend, Jackson suffered blisters from a pair of new spikes, so he took his shoes off and played the rest of the game in his stocking feet.

Keeping it on the track

• Darlington Raceway

The Lady in Black Credit: Autostock

Local businessman Harold Brasington had a dream: to build the first paved superspeedway in the South. Starting in 1949 and continuing for more than a year, Brasington and his crew pushed dirt around an old cotton field in an effort to make that dream a reality.

The original plan, a 1.25-mile pure oval, ended up having to be scraped when the landowner refused to let Brasington disturb his minnow farm. So the west end of the track was narrowed to accomodate the fishing hole.

Expecting no more than 10,000 people for the Labor Day race in 1950, Brasington was stunned to find 25,000 clamoring for tickets. Johnny Mantz started last in a field of 75 cars and won the six-hour marathon to begin the storied history of a place known as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and "The Lady in Black."

Darlington has always been good to its native sons. David Pearson was almost unbeatable there, posting 10 victories and 30 top-10 finishes in 47 races. Cale Yarborough won five times in 49 starts.

Gone but not forgotten

• Columbia Speedway, Columbia

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Built in 1932, the dirt half-mile goes so far back in NASCAR history that the first three winning manufacturers -- Studebaker, Oldsmobile and Hudson -- no longer exist.

The track hosted 43 races, beginning in 1951 and ending when NASCAR shortened its schedule following the 1971 season. Buck Baker made 28 starts, winning four times. Richard Petty was the king of Columbia, winning seven poles and seven races there, including the final race in 1971.

The closest finish came in the 1968 Sandlapper 200, when David Pearson beat Charlie Glotzbach by a half car-length.

The track closed in 1977.

Other tracks which have hosted NASCAR races

• Coastal Speedway, Myrtle Beach: Fireball Roberts and Gwyn Staley won on the dirt half-mile

• Gamecock Speedway, Sumter: CaleYarborough's home track hosted one NASCAR event in 1960, won by Ned Jarrett

• Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Greenville: Richard Petty had six wins total, but Bobby Isaac won four consecutive races on the half-mile, which is still a NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series track

• Hartsville Speedway, Hartsville: Buck Baker's Chrysler finished first at the dirt third-mile in 1961

• Lancaster Speedway, Lancaster: Paul Goldsmith and Speedy Thompson posted wins on the dirt half-mile in 1957

• Newberry Speedway , Newberry: Smallest reported crowd in NASCAR history (900) watched Fireball Roberts win in 1957

• Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, Spartanburg: Dirt half-mile hosted 22 races from 1953 until 1966, with Ned Jarrett winning six times

• Rambi Raceway, Myrtle Beach: Three generations of Earnhardts and Pettys have raced at the track now known as Myrtle Beach Speedway

A word from our sponsor

• United Parcel Service, Columbia

The Atlanta-based package delivery company serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. In 1994, UPS selected Columbia Metropolitan Airport as the site for a UPS Southeastern Regional Hub.