Saturday 22nd December 1934

Born on this day, David Pearson, former American stock car racer who began his NASCAR career in 1960 and ended his first season by winning the NASCAR Rookie of the Year award. He won three championships – 1966, 1968, and 1969. NASCAR described his 1974 season as an indication of his “consistent greatness”; that season he finished third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races. Pearson’s career paralleled Richard Petty’s, the driver who won the most races in NASCAR history. They accounted for 63 first/second place finishes (with the edge going to Pearson). Petty said, “Pearson could beat you on a short track, he could beat you on a superspeedway, he could beat you on a road course, he could beat you on a dirt track. It didn’t hurt as bad to lose to Pearson as it did to some of the others, because I knew how good he was.”