NASCAR: Top 10 drivers at Daytona of all-time
1. David Pearson
- Races: 54
- Wins: 8
- Top 5 finishes: 22
- Top 10 finishes: 34
- Average finish: 12.17
Why is David Pearson ranked #1 on this list? Let me break down the numbers for you compared to those of Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough.
Pearson finished his career with 54 starts at Daytona, which is 20 fewer starts than Petty, who only had two more wins, six more top 5 finishes and three more top 10 finishes than Pearson had, had. Given the fact that he had 20 more starts than Pearson did in the race, those statistics are certainly attainable.
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Compared to Yarborough, Pearson had three fewer starts and one fewer win, but he finished with more top 5 and top 10 finishes with a significant average finish advantage to boot.
Pearson was able to put up these great statistics with fewer starts, and not only that, he was able to stay on the track much more often than the prior two were. Therefore, Pearson’s statistics are far more impressive than those of both of these other drivers and while he only has one Daytona 500 victory, his total performance at Daytona outweighs that.
To summarize, with eight wins at Daytona, Pearson is in the upper echelon of Daytona drivers and his overall statistics at the track, including number of races and consistency, are better than any other driver’s when compared side by side.
Pearson will probably forever live in the shadow of other Daytona greats, but in my opinion, he is the greatest Daytona driver in the history of NASCAR. Who knows if we’ll ever have another driver produce the same kind of success at the greatest track in NASCAR.
Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time
The 60th annual Daytona 500 is set to take place at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on Sunday, February 18th and will be broadcast live on FOX starting at 2:30 pm ET, so be sure you do not miss it.