David Pearson, super-sub for Dale Earnhardt (1979)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
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| Courtesy John Betts and Bench Racing from the Volunteer State |
Why? After running for several different teams at the start of his career, David Pearson settled into running a part-time schedule for the Wood Brothers from 1972-1979. Then, the 1979 spring Darlington race, a miscommunication led to an embarrassing pit road miscue. Pearson left the team that day, then found himself called into a substitute role for Rod Osterlund when Osterlund’s driver Dale Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone.
How successful were they? VERY. Despite having run nothing but Mercurys for the past 6+ years, and having missed the past eleven races, The Silver Fox posted a win, two top-fives, and one top-ten in four races.
What was the aftermath? Pearson went on to run for seven more seasons (albeit still on a partial-schedule) for several different teams.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 2 Purolator filters out of 10—David Pearson ran for so many teams outside of his Wood Brothers years that the most-surprising thing here was probably his immediate success.
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