David Pearson Bio/Stats
By 55CrownVic

Car: #21 Mercury 

Team: Wood Bros 

Crew Chief: Glen Wood 

105 wins 

301 top 5s

113 poles 

 3 championships 

David Pearson was born December 22, 1934 in Whitney, SC. His NASCAR Grand National racing career began in 1960 when he began driving for Cotton Owens. He won races at Darlington and Charlotte right away and won his 1st Grand National Championship driving the # 6 Dodge of Cotton Owens in 1966. With Richard Petty and Chrysler dominating the Championship points almost every year, Ford Motor Company put the pressure on their team, Holman Moody, to sign a driver who could win a championship for Ford. In 1967, Holman Moody hired Pearson to get it done. Pearson drove the blue and gold # 17 Ford Torino to NASCAR championship titles in both 1968 and 1969. His career slowed a bit after that due to the loss of Ford factory backing for Holman Moody after 1970. Pearson went to the Wood Brothers team in mid-year 1972 when A J Foyt left them to return full time to Indy racing. He won 6 races that year in the # 21 Mercury. In 1973, Pearson won 11 out of the 18 races the Wood Brothers Mercury entered. All in all, he won 43 races in the # 21 Mercury between 1972 and 1979. He won 30 races driving the Holman Moody Ford between 1967 and 1971. Between 1973 and 1978, he won 11 consecutive poles at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He scored 10 wins and 12 poles at Darlington Raceway in his career. He won the 1976 Daytona 500. He was the 1st driver to top 190 mph in qualifying at Daytona in 1969. He won 105 total races between 1960 and 1980. Pearson raced only occasionally after he left the Wood Brothers till he retired in 1986. I think he was the best ever.