The Darlington Raceway in upstate South Carolina is considered one of NASCAR’s most challenging tracks. It’s shaped like an egg and has earned the moniker ‘the track too tough to tame’. That applied to everyone except David Pearson, who won 10 races and took 12 poles at Darlington. These records will likely never be challenged, let alone broken. Pearson’s ability to get around the track was almost instinctive. In fact, he made it look easy.

David Pearson was born three days before Christmas 1934 in a tough textile town near the North Carolina/South Carolina border called Whitney. His parents both worked in the local mill and did their best to provide. David quit school after the 10th grade and also worked in the mill. He was soon drawn away by his love of fast cars. He bought his own car and began racing at short tracks in the area. He ran his first race in 1952 in Woodruff, South Carolina and won his first championship at the old Greenville-Pickens Speedway in 1959.

Pearson never sought out stock car racing immortality, but some of his friends had other ideas. They began raising money to buy a car to race in the NASCAR Grand National series (the forerunner to today’s Sprint Cup). With a patchwork of financial backing, David began racing a limited schedule on the Grand National circuit and was named the 1960 rookie of the year. In 1961, he became the first driver in history to win on 3 of the 4 superspeedways in the same season (Charlotte, Atlanta, Daytona). This attracted sponsors, and before he knew it he was a top NASCAR driver winning Grand National titles in 1966, 1968 and 1969.

In 1972, he started driving for the Wood Brothers in the #21 car that he was to make a legend. In 1973, he won 11 races in 18 starts”an incredible feat even by todays standards. He cut back his schedule in those years to focus on superpeedways. Through the end of the 1970s, Pearson won 43 races. In addition to his mastery of Darlington, he posted remarkable numbers all over the circuit. He is one of two men to have won more than 100 races, and his 105 is second only to The King Richard Pettys 200 wins. Hes also second on career poles (113) to Petty. Head to head, however, he has a slight edge over NASCARs legendary King: in races where he and Petty finished 1-2, Pearson won 33 to Pettys 30. His 11 consecutive poles at Charlotte is a feat that will likely never be matched. Another record that may never be broken is his 18.29% winning percentage, as well as his record of starting from the pole in 20% of the races he ran.

In March, 2000, SC Highway 221 through Spartanburg County was renamed David Pearson Boulevard in his honor. He lives in Spartanburg to this day. Pearson still takes to the track occasionally–he and current NASCAR driver Carl Edwards were the first to race on the newly repaved Darlington Raceway last Spring. We should all hope to be able to run with a 20 something NASCAR driver when we’re in our mid 70’s. Incidentally, he got the nickname Silver Fox due to his prematurely gray hair and cunning style behind the wheel.