NASCAR Hall of Fame member
David Pearson, a.k.a. 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.
Born: Dec. 22, 1934
Died: Nov. 12, 2018
Hometown: Spartanburg, S.C.
Competed: 1960-86
Starts: 574
Wins: 105
Poles: 113
His 105 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories ranks second all-time, and he amassed that figure in only 574 races — a winning percentage of 18.29.
In a career that spanned 27 years, Pearson never once ran every single race in a given season. When he came close to running the full schedule, he won a championship — or came darn close.
In 1966, Pearson ran 42 of 49 races to win his first championship. In his 1968 championship winning campaign, he ran 48 of 49 races. And in 1969, he ran 51 of 54 en route to his third and final title.
His consistent greatness might best be defined by his 1974 performance, a season he did not win the championship. He finished third that year behind Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough — but raced only 19 of 30 races.
Ranking second in wins and poles, Pearson’s numbers are eclipsed only by Petty. Pearson won the Daytona 500 once (1976), but had six victories overall at Daytona International Speedway.
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics |
| Year |
Age |
Races |
Win |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Pole |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
AvSt |
AvFn |
RAF |
Miles |
LLF |
| 1960 |
26 |
22 of 44 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
3885 |
0 |
|
14.7 |
15.4 |
12 |
3792.3 |
1 |
| 1961 |
27 |
19 of 52 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
1 |
3087 |
247 |
|
8.8 |
14.6 |
10 |
3466.7 |
3 |
| 1962 |
28 |
12 of 53 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
2690 |
280 |
|
8.2 |
13.7 |
6 |
3585.5 |
1 |
| 1963 |
29 |
41 of 55 |
0 |
13 |
19 |
2 |
8697 |
178 |
|
11.8 |
12.6 |
25 |
6724.8 |
3 |
| 1964 |
30 |
61 of 62 |
8 |
29 |
42 |
12 |
13225 |
2256 |
|
5.2 |
8.3 |
39 |
9152.5 |
11 |
| 1965 |
31 |
14 of 55 |
2 |
8 |
11 |
1 |
3243 |
576 |
|
4.1 |
8.7 |
7 |
1890.3 |
4 |
| 1966 |
32 |
42 of 49 |
15 |
26 |
33 |
7 |
10781 |
3174 |
|
5.6 |
6.4 |
34 |
8587.7 |
21 |
| 1967 |
33 |
22 of 49 |
2 |
11 |
13 |
2 |
5638 |
667 |
|
5.7 |
11.5 |
13 |
5985.7 |
5 |
| 1968 |
34 |
48 of 49 |
16 |
36 |
38 |
12 |
13097 |
3950 |
|
3.4 |
5.8 |
38 |
9923.2 |
29 |
| 1969 |
35 |
51 of 54 |
11 |
42 |
44 |
14 |
14270 |
2905 |
|
4.6 |
5.3 |
42 |
11710.8 |
29 |
| 1970 |
36 |
19 of 48 |
1 |
9 |
11 |
2 |
4210 |
580 |
|
5.8 |
12.8 |
10 |
5818.3 |
4 |
| 1971 |
37 |
17 of 48 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
2 |
2998 |
252 |
|
7.0 |
18.9 |
9 |
3122.2 |
3 |
| 1972 |
38 |
17 of 31 |
6 |
12 |
13 |
4 |
4902 |
1570 |
|
5.1 |
7.9 |
12 |
6622.9 |
7 |
| 1973 |
39 |
18 of 28 |
11 |
14 |
14 |
8 |
5338 |
2658 |
|
3.4 |
7.8 |
14 |
7209.0 |
14 |
| 1974 |
40 |
19 of 30 |
7 |
15 |
15 |
11 |
4630 |
1167 |
|
2.2 |
7.9 |
15 |
7757.8 |
15 |
| 1975 |
41 |
21 of 30 |
3 |
13 |
14 |
7 |
5653 |
1343 |
15 |
3.4 |
10.3 |
13 |
8591.3 |
9 |
| 1976 |
42 |
22 of 30 |
10 |
16 |
18 |
8 |
6194 |
1227 |
9 |
3.5 |
6.9 |
18 |
9060.3 |
14 |
| 1977 |
43 |
22 of 30 |
2 |
16 |
16 |
5 |
5694 |
868 |
13 |
5.4 |
9.6 |
16 |
8191.8 |
12 |
| 1978 |
44 |
22 of 30 |
4 |
11 |
11 |
7 |
5375 |
757 |
16 |
4.7 |
15.6 |
11 |
7612.7 |
8 |
| 1979 |
45 |
9 of 31 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
2271 |
264 |
32 |
4.8 |
12.9 |
5 |
3232.9 |
3 |
| 1980 |
46 |
9 of 31 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1787 |
172 |
37 |
6.7 |
13.9 |
5 |
3254.1 |
4 |
| 1981 |
47 |
6 of 31 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1309 |
48 |
69 |
8.8 |
22.0 |
2 |
1878.6 |
0 |
| 1982 |
48 |
6 of 30 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1019 |
7 |
38 |
12.3 |
22.2 |
2 |
1721.0 |
1 |
| 1983 |
49 |
10 of 30 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
1643 |
18 |
33 |
11.4 |
22.1 |
4 |
3093.6 |
1 |
| 1984 |
50 |
11 of 30 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1630 |
10 |
41 |
10.3 |
26.2 |
4 |
2974.0 |
1 |
| 1985 |
51 |
12 of 28 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1418 |
2 |
36 |
9.3 |
30.1 |
2 |
2644.7 |
0 |
| 1986 |
52 |
2 of 29 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
337 |
0 |
82 |
11.0 |
23.0 |
1 |
605.0 |
0 |
| 27 years |
|
574 |
105 |
301 |
366 |
113 |
135021 |
25176 |
|
6.9 |
13.8 |
369 |
148209.7 |
203 |
|
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