NASCAR: Making the case for David Pearson as the greatest driver of all-time

By Asher Fair | Nov 13, 2018

CONCORD, NC - JANUARY 27: NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee David Pearson poses with the #21 Motorcraft Ford (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR) /

NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson passed away on Monday. Is there a case to be made for him as the greatest NASCAR driver of all-time?

NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson passed away on Monday, November 12 at the age of 83. The three-time Cup Series champion competed in the Cup Series (Grand National Series from 1960 to 1971, Winston Cup Series from 1972 until after Pearson retired) in 28 of the seasons from the 1960 season through the 1989 season.

The Spartanburg, South Carolina native, who became known as NASCAR’s “Silver Fox”, only competed in more than half of the races in 12 of the 28 seasons in which he competed. But that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the sport’s legends.

In fact, there is a serious case to be made for Pearson as the greatest NASCAR driver of all-time.

While many people will argue that nobody will ever be able to come close to Richard Petty, also known as “The King”, when it comes to discussing NASCAR’s greatest driver of all-time — and in many ways, they may be right — the fact is, Pearson belongs in that discussion.

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For a driver who never complete every race in a single Cup Series season, Pearson’s statistics are astonishing. His 105 victories rank second on the all-time Cup Series wins list behind only the win total of Petty, which is 200, and his 113 pole positions rank second on the all-time Cup Series pole positions list behind only the pole position total of Petty, which is 123.

Pearson’s 16-win 1968 season and his 15-win 1966 season, the two seasons that resulted in him winning the first two of his three championships, are the only two seasons in Cup Series history during which a driver other than Richard Petty earned more than half the number of victories that Petty earned during his record-setting 27-win 1967 season.

Pearson went on to win his third and final championship in the 1969 season. His notable victories include his victories in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in 1976, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1976, 1977 and 1979, the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1961, 1974 and 1976, and the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

While much of this information leans toward Petty being the undisputed greatest NASCAR driver of all-time, even over Pearson, consider the fact that Pearson competed in less than half the number of races that Petty did. While Petty competed in 1,184 races, Pearson needed just 574 races (610 fewer races) to put up the numbers that he did.

Among drivers whose career Cup Series win totals rank in the top 14 (49 wins or more) on the all-time wins list, Pearson has the best win percentage, and it isn’t really that close. His win percentage is 18.29%. Petty’s is the next closest a full 1.40% behind at 16.89%. Also, Pearson’s pole position percentage of 19.69% is nearly twice as high as that of Petty, which is 10.39%.

It would be naive to say for a fact that Pearson is better than Petty based on these numbers and statistics alone. After all, no one knows what would have happened had Pearson competed in as many races as Petty did, and determining who the greatest NASCAR driver of all-time — or really the greatest athlete of any sport of all-time — is completely subjective no matter how you look at it.

But one thing is certain: Pearson belongs in the discussion.

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

Do you believe that David Pearson is the greatest NASCAR driver of all-time? If not, who do you believe the greatest driver in the sport’s history is and why?

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