Pearson's love of racing ticket to making a living

David Pearson could be considered the ultimate "thinking man's racer." The winner of 105 races, Pearson was dubbed the Silver Fox for his ability to conserve his equipment and bide his time until the closing laps of the race.

Almost giving up on racing as a career, a chance opportunity to drive in the second World 600 resulted in a surprising victory, and by the time the 1961 season was done, Pearson had won three superspeedway races and rookie of the year honors.

He only ran for the championship three times, winning it in 1966, 1968 and 1969. But his fame grew exponentially when he landed with the Wood Brothers beginning in 1972.

Hall of Fame bio

The Silver Fox was the model of NASCAR efficiency during his career. With little exaggeration, when Pearson showed up at a race track, he won. His 105 Cup Series victories ranks second all time, and he amassed that figure in only 574 races -- a winning percentage of 18.29.

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Q: How did you get started in racing?

Pearson: Well, ever since I went to my first race -- and I climbed the fence over at Spartanburg -- and watched the race, watched Cotton Owens and a bunch of them from there. I said, 'Man, when I get that age, that's what I'm going to do.' I enjoyed running, watching the races, stuff like that, so I started out that way.

It was at a little short track in Woodruff, S.C., a few miles south of here. We'd run on Saturday afternoons. Back then, we didn't get purse money. We'd go up in the stands and pass the hat around and we'd split up what we got. The first time I run there, I got $13.

Q: How did you end up running in Grand National?

Pearson: I got to where I was running quite a bit around and over there on the asphalt at Greenville-Pickens. I ran on quite a bit of dirt tracks. In 1959, I won 30 out of 42 races. I was working at a service station at the same time. I had a friend who was on the police force. The year before that, he made up his mind to buy a car from Cotton Owens to run at the beach.

The next year, he rode a motorcycle. He was a city policeman. He'd go different places and he said, 'Jack Smith's wanting to buy a sports car and he's got an old dirt car he's wanting to sell.' He wanted me to go in with him. I said, 'Man, you know I don't have the money to buy that car.' And he said, 'A lot of people know you around here. We'll get you the money.'

Anyway, every day on his beat, he'd stop and ask people in the area for money to buy that car with, and he started getting quarters, 50 cents, change, and giving it to me. I didn't know where he got the money, and he forced me to buy that car. I still didn't have enough money to buy it, but the rest of it came from my dad. He loaned me the rest of it. It was a dirt car, but we repainted it, straightened the dents and all that stuff and carried it to Daytona. That's really how I got started.

Q: You were doing some roofing at that point?

Pearson: It was a friend of mine, and I was helping him do some roofing. I think he just wanted me there to ride around with him because I didn't do that much and he had done roofing, so I would keep the kettle hot. You know, the tar that goes on the roofs? So I'd do that, and he knew I was a racer. So when Ray Fox went to Charlotte without a driver, some of the guys who knew I had won a lot of races on dirt or whatever, Cotton Owens and Joe Littlejohn talked to him and asked him to let me give it a shot, that I'd do a good job for him.

Of course, Ray didn't know who I was and I didn't know who Ray was. Anyway, I was getting that old car ready to take to Charlotte for the 600, and they called him and asked if I wanted to drive the car for Ray Fox. That was a crackerjack car. That just tickled me to death. I just put everything down and said I'd go to Charlotte. I went up and talked him and tried the car out. I never will forget. I came back in and he asked me how the car handled. I said, 'To tell you the truth, I don't know how it's supposed to handle. I've never run this fast before in my life.'

Anyway, I got to run the car. They had 125-mile qualifying races, and they had Junior Johnson drive it in the 125-mile race and he finished third, I think it was, so I started third in the big race. So I led almost 400 miles of that 600-mile race and I ended up winning the race. That just fixed me right up, because Ray wanted me to run the car at Daytona in July. So I went down there, started fourth and won that race. And then I went on to Atlanta and won that one. The three big races and I won all of them. At that time, nobody had ever done that before.

Q: The Charlotte victory was even more impressive because you won despite having a flat tire on the final lap, correct?

Pearson: I had a flat tire when I came around for the white flag. At the time, we didn't have posi-traction rear ends, and it was the right rear that blowed. I was just creeping along, because the car would spin with the tire still on the rim. I would have been better had the tire just come off the rim instead of the tire flopping around in there. I was four or five laps ahead at the time and I know Fireball Roberts kept lapping me then, because I was just poking along. When I come off the fourth turn, I couldn't believe we were going to make it all the way around on that flat tire.

Q: You had great success with Cotton Owens, didn't you?

Pearson: Well, I won the championship with Cotton when he was with Chrysler in 1966. I drove for Cotton some in 1964 and 1965. We ran a few races then, and he wanted to run for the championship in 1966, so we ran quite a few races the year before, getting ready, testing and stuff. We ended up winning the championship.

October unveiling

A Voting Panel will meet in Charlotte, N.C., to select the five for enshrinement with the inaugural Hall of Fame class to be announced Oct. 14.

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The Hall of Fame will bring NASCAR's history to life and preserves that history in the appropriate environments. The facility will allow fans to have the opportunity to relive the sport's greatest moments.

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There was kind of a funny situation there, too. Believe it or not, we broke up over a bag of ice. We were getting ready to go to a race and of course, Cotton had the car and the truck sitting on the outside of the garage, ready to go. And all of us guys were sitting around. When I got there, the guys said they were waiting on Cotton, so they said, 'Let's go ahead and get some ice for the coolers for the trip.' So while we were gone, Cotton came out and he thought we had run off and left him. So he got mad and just pulled the truck back in the garage and said, 'If they're going to do that, then I'm not even going.'

I'd have gotten mad, too, if I thought they'd have run off and left me. I wouldn't have wanted to drive that truck by myself. So when we got back with the ice, we saw the truck was gone, and we figured he was done gone. So we went to the track, and when we got there, he wasn't there. So anyway, we didn't run. So the next day, he got mad and fired one or two of the guys. And when I got there the next morning, I said, 'What's wrong? They said you fired somebody. Well, that ain't right.' And he said, 'I did, and if you don't like it, you can go with them.' And I didn't like it, so I left.

And I wound up with Holman and Moody, and I won the championship twice with them.

Q: What was it like running with the top Ford team in the business at that time?

Pearson: It was good. We had a good time and ran all the races and ended up winning the championship in 1968 and 1969.

Q: In those days, many drivers only ran the bigger races because they paid more, right?

Pearson: Yeah, that's what it was. The reason I left Holman and Moody, we were in California and Ford quit the racing business. [Ford director of racing] Charlie Gray called me and said, 'Well, we might as well load up. Ford just called me and said they're out of racing. They just quit.' At that time, we just loaded up and left.

Q: Didn't you end up with the Wood Brothers right after that?

Pearson: When Ford quit, John Holman took over the team and wanted me to stay on. At the time, I was getting 50 percent [of the purse]. Everywhere I went, I got 50 percent. John wanted me to drive for 40 percent. I said, 'John, if that 10 percent is all that's keeping you in the racing business, you might as well quit anyway.' I never drove for 40 percent and wasn't going to start now. He wouldn't budge and I said I'd better think of something else to do. When I quit with him, A.J. Foyt was driving for the Wood Brothers, and they called and asked if I wanted to drive with them.

I knew they had a good car. I tried it out one time at Daytona. They asked me to shake the car down for them. The car handled so good, I just kept running and made quite a few laps. They said, 'You were out there an awful long time in that car.' And I said, 'It was just so good, I thought I'd stay out here and run awhile.' That's when I was still with Holman and Moody.

Anyway, when [Glen Wood] called me, he said he was thinking of running two cars and I said, 'Sure, I'd like that.' Of course, I went to them and ran real good with them. They asked if I wanted to run for them the next year and they asked if I wanted to run with Foyt or run it by myself. Well, they felt like they could do a better job with one car instead of two, and I did, too.

Q: Is there one victory that stands out in your career?

Pearson: I guess the first one, the World 600 in 1961, you always remember that one, winning on three wheels and all. That's the one that really pops into my mind. The 1976 Daytona 500. That was a good one.

Q: What's the biggest change in the sport?

Pearson: The money's the biggest thing, no doubt about it. Drivers now get more money just to sign up to drive a car for a year than we made all year. Now the cars are a little different, especially the Car of Tomorrow. I've never driven one of those. Back then, every year you went to Daytona you had a different car. They've gone to different setups and find different things. Back when we run, we ran stiffer springs in front. Now they run stiffer springs in the back, which don't make sense to me, but that's the way they're doing it. It's to keep the car low to the ground and stable, but it makes it hard to pass.

Q: Who would you choose for the inaugural Hall of Fame class?

Pearson: That would be hard to do. You know, no doubt about it, Bill France will be in there. And after that, I don't know.

Q: What do you feel will be your legacy?

Pearson: I don't have any idea. The sport was good to me. I can't say a bad thing about it. I never had a serious injury, the whole time I was racing. I got bruised up a few times, but never was hurt. Never had a broken bone. It was good to me and the money wasn't as good as it is right now, but it good for way back then. There was nowhere else I could have made the money I was making. I enjoyed it.

There ain't too many things you can do and enjoy it that you can make a living at it.

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