By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated 7/31/24
Richard Petty and David Pearson are arguably the two greatest drivers in NASCAR history. With 305 wins, eight Daytona 500 and 10 Cup Series championships between the two men, fans who were alive to see the two great racers compete on a weekly basis were blessed to watch two legends fully commit to their craft. The duo finished 1-2 an incredible 63 times with Pearson holding a 33-30 edge in those finishes.
While the pair had many memorable moments over the years, their two most memorable came at the Daytona International Speedway.
1974 Firecracker 400: Pearson 1, Petty 2
This was a race that epitomized the infancy of NASCAR’s modern era. The 16th Firecracker 400 was run on a very hot Fourth of July and as fans celebrated 198 years of the United States of America, Pearson and Petty were putting on a show that the Founding Fathers would’ve been enthralled by.
As the two Hall of Famers took the white flag, Pearson’s No. 21 car drastically slowed, letting Petty take the lead for himself. As it turned out, however, The King had been outsmarted — educated on the slingshot move and how beneficial it could be at superspeedways. Pearson had intentionally let Petty around him in order to make a run on the final lap. Out of turn four, it was Pearson who closed the gap, sliding by Petty just before the start-finish line for a dramatic victory.
1976 Daytona 500: Pearson 1, Petty 2
After AJ Foyt, who led 66 laps, most of any driver on the day, suffered a valve spring issue that relegated him to a 22nd-place finish, the 18th running of the Great American Race was suddenly anyone’s for the taking. As they so often did at the time, Petty and Pearson quickly rose to the top of the leaderboard, setting up another legendary battle. The duo seemed to be poised for a photo finish a la 1959 when Richard’s father, Lee Petty, won the inaugural Daytona 500 over Johnny Beauchamp.
But Pearson got loose as the pair exited turn four on the last lap, sending both cars spinning. The race for the win was now a race to see which totaled car would crank first, and it would prove to be Pearson’s damaged Mercury that would crawl across the line first and notch ‘The Silver Fox’ his only Daytona 500 trophy.
It’s safe to say that Petty got the final laugh in the end, winning seven Daytona 500s to Pearson’s one.
More must-reads:
- One for the little guys: NASCAR’s most memorable underdog wins
- The ones that got away: The most heartbreaking losses in NASCAR history
- The ‘Daytona 500 winners’ quiz