Pearson's love of racing ticket to making a living (cont'd)

Q: You had great success with Cotton Owens, didn't you?

Pearson: Well, I won the championship with Cotton when he was with Chrysler in 1966. I drove for Cotton some in 1964 and 1965. We ran a few races then, and he wanted to run for the championship in 1966, so we ran quite a few races the year before, getting ready, testing and stuff. We ended up winning the championship.

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There was kind of a funny situation there, too. Believe it or not, we broke up over a bag of ice. We were getting ready to go to a race and of course, Cotton had the car and the truck sitting on the outside of the garage, ready to go. And all of us guys were sitting around. When I got there, the guys said they were waiting on Cotton, so they said, 'Let's go ahead and get some ice for the coolers for the trip.' So while we were gone, Cotton came out and he thought we had run off and left him. So he got mad and just pulled the truck back in the garage and said, 'If they're going to do that, then I'm not even going.'

I'd have gotten mad, too, if I thought they'd have run off and left me. I wouldn't have wanted to drive that truck by myself. So when we got back with the ice, we saw the truck was gone, and we figured he was done gone. So we went to the track, and when we got there, he wasn't there. So anyway, we didn't run. So the next day, he got mad and fired one or two of the guys. And when I got there the next morning, I said, 'What's wrong? They said you fired somebody. Well, that ain't right.' And he said, 'I did, and if you don't like it, you can go with them.' And I didn't like it, so I left.

And I wound up with Holman and Moody, and I won the championship twice with them.

Q: What was it like running with the top Ford team in the business at that time?

Pearson: It was good. We had a good time and ran all the races and ended up winning the championship in 1968 and 1969.

Q: In those days, many drivers only ran the bigger races because they paid more, right?

Pearson: Yeah, that's what it was. The reason I left Holman and Moody, we were in California and Ford quit the racing business. [Ford director of racing] Charlie Gray called me and said, 'Well, we might as well load up. Ford just called me and said they're out of racing. They just quit.' At that time, we just loaded up and left.

Q: Didn't you end up with the Wood Brothers right after that?

Pearson: When Ford quit, John Holman took over the team and wanted me to stay on. At the time, I was getting 50 percent [of the purse]. Everywhere I went, I got 50 percent. John wanted me to drive for 40 percent. I said, 'John, if that 10 percent is all that's keeping you in the racing business, you might as well quit anyway.' I never drove for 40 percent and wasn't going to start now. He wouldn't budge and I said I'd better think of something else to do. When I quit with him, A.J. Foyt was driving for the Wood Brothers, and they called and asked if I wanted to drive with them.

I knew they had a good car. I tried it out one time at Daytona. They asked me to shake the car down for them. The car handled so good, I just kept running and made quite a few laps. They said, 'You were out there an awful long time in that car.' And I said, 'It was just so good, I thought I'd stay out here and run awhile.' That's when I was still with Holman and Moody.

Anyway, when [Glen Wood] called me, he said he was thinking of running two cars and I said, 'Sure, I'd like that.' Of course, I went to them and ran real good with them. They asked if I wanted to run for them the next year and they asked if I wanted to run with Foyt or run it by myself. Well, they felt like they could do a better job with one car instead of two, and I did, too.

Q: Is there one victory that stands out in your career?

Pearson: I guess the first one, the World 600 in 1961, you always remember that one, winning on three wheels and all. That's the one that really pops into my mind. The 1976 Daytona 500. That was a good one.

Q: What's the biggest change in the sport?

Pearson: The money's the biggest thing, no doubt about it. Drivers now get more money just to sign up to drive a car for a year than we made all year. Now the cars are a little different, especially the Car of Tomorrow. I've never driven one of those. Back then, every year you went to Daytona you had a different car. They've gone to different setups and find different things. Back when we run, we ran stiffer springs in front. Now they run stiffer springs in the back, which don't make sense to me, but that's the way they're doing it. It's to keep the car low to the ground and stable, but it makes it hard to pass.

Q: Who would you choose for the inaugural Hall of Fame class?

Pearson: That would be hard to do. You know, no doubt about it, Bill France will be in there. And after that, I don't know.

Q: What do you feel will be your legacy?

Pearson: I don't have any idea. The sport was good to me. I can't say a bad thing about it. I never had a serious injury, the whole time I was racing. I got bruised up a few times, but never was hurt. Never had a broken bone. It was good to me and the money wasn't as good as it is right now, but it good for way back then. There was nowhere else I could have made the money I was making. I enjoyed it.

There ain't too many things you can do and enjoy it that you can make a living at it.

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