Where is ... Larry Pearson? (cont'd)

Pearson came by the trait honestly, having gotten many of his superstitions from his father.

"He's terrible ... he's not as bad now," Pearson said. "I'm probably still a little worse now than he is, but he used to come home every week telling me things that were bad luck."

There are those who might assume that David Pearson cast a big shadow for Larry and brothers Eddie and Ricky, that it was hard for Larry to live up to his father's legacy in the sport. For Larry Pearson, however, there is no such psychobabble.

David Pearson had an incredible career in racing. So be it. As a former Busch Series champion, Larry's name is right there in the record books alongside the three titles won by his father on what is now the Nextel Cup circuit. That's good enough for Larry.

Never was there a point, Larry Pearson insists, that he got tired of comparisons to his father.

"I always wished that I could be as good as him," Pearson said matter-of-factly. "In my mind, he was the best and still is ... he and [Dale] Earnhardt. There's nothing wrong with being compared to him. All I could do was go out, race and try to win every race I was in. He had three Cup championships, and I knew I could never do that. I knew I could never get 105 wins. I didn't mind being compared to him."

The Busch Series in which Pearson raced and the Busch Series that exists today are not the same. Of course, that goes, really, without saying.

"No sir ... nowhere close," Pearson said. "I don't really know what's happened to it. I know the Cup Series has come 180 degrees. It's nothing like it used to be. It's very political now. I've been to a few Busch Series races. Most of the drivers stay in their hauler. They don't get out. They don't walk around very much. They don't socialize with other drivers, and get out and joke and have a good time. There may be some of that, but I haven't seen it."

Once Pearson won his two championships in 1986 and '87, his family owned operation took a stab at the Cup circuit in 1989. Starting all 29 races that season, Pearson collected two top-10 finishes, the best a sixth early in the year at Richmond.

The Pearsons lost their sponsorship at the end of the year, and Larry ran just nine Cup events in 1990. The transition from such success in the Busch Series to struggling in Cup, Pearson admits, was a difficult one.

"You've got to understand ... I really, really loved the Busch Series," Pearson said. "I really, really had a good time. We were competitive. We had a shot to win every race we went to. We moved up to Cup, and obviously we struggled. I was a rookie. The team was a rookie. The engine builder was a rookie. Everyone was a rookie. It made it hard for us. We were used to going to tracks and winning, or at least finishing in the top five every week."

Pearson eventually returned to the Busch Series and won a 1995 event in Darlington, a track where his father had been so successful. Today, he'd like to go shake down a car for Ricky, who serves as crew chief for Busch Series upstart Brent Sherman and McGill Motorsports.

In fact, he begs to do so. So far, though, no dice.

"I've been trying like crazy to get [Ricky] to let me take the car over to Greenville-Pickens and let me run it a few laps, just to see what's going on," Pearson began. "They've got really, really super-good cars. ... I would like to get in the car, just to more or less help [Sherman] out, to try to get him to feel what the car's doing a little bit more."

Check this out. Pearson has even called brother Ricky during races. Really. Seriously. He has.

"I get so mad, I call Ricky on his cell phone during the caution flags during the race," Pearson said. "It upsets me so much to see them running at the rear, when I know the type of equipment they have. I know the cars are there."

Ricky's reaction to such mid-race interactions with his brother?

"Well ... I can't repeat what he says," Pearson laughed. "He's not mad at me for calling. He's mad because of the way they're running."