TNN The Great Drivers David Pearson

[@superbird4351]

Pearson was by far the best driver of his generation, and an underrated nominee for GOAT. If he had run full time his whole career, god knows what records he would have set.

[@jameseastjr]

Absolutely the most talented and smartest driver ever!!

[@briantaylor6562]

Most definitely!

[@tonymyers7498]

My dad went to the Wood's bros and had em build him a 428 cobra jet. They told my dad to baby it until the motor got broken in...My dad went wide open with it driving his 1967 Ford GT Fairlane....he blew it up.....limped it back into the woods bros shop.... David Pearson paid for my dad's new engine....no doubt my dad was Pearson s biggest fan

[@KK-ex5zu]

David Pearson was one of a kind! There's no replacing him, RIP Silver Fox they don't make race car drivers like you no more.

[@patpeterson2671]

My favorite in Nascar history ...... they don't make men / drivers like this anymore .....a very humble person , and never forgot where he came from and how he grew up ...... he is a pioneer and the roots of the racing series that was great at one time , far from the crap we see today ....... a absolute legend and in my opinion the greatest ...... he has the best winning percentage in Nascar history and he only raced 9 full seasons ....... Richard Petty said if he raced full seasons like Petty did , he would have had 200 plus race wins .....I heard Petty say , Pearson is the greatest driver in the history of Nascar .....Pearson was as great as he was because of Petty and Petty was as great as he was because of Pearson ......and they both respected each other , unlike the clowns we see today .....

[@garywells1294]

Me and my dad spent a lot of time listening to Pearson putting it on them when you had to listen to the races on the radio. Many great hours spent with my dad!!

[@lancehurley9743]

Quite possibly the best to ever drive a Grand National Winston Cup car....many people think so..

[@lskiller1903]

Statistically he is the best no question. David Pearson not going into the Nascar hall of fame the first year, is solely why I don't watch or have anything to do with Nascar racing anymore. And I live in Mooresville NC race city USA.

[@harrismustang2813]

Ain't never really known alot about Pearson... I was born too late... I was and always will be a Davey Allison fan... but I have to say this guy is awesome and now I will have to see any and every video I can find about this dude... I know a lil about him but this lets me see how honestly kind hearted this man was and to me that means alot... makes him as cool as Davey and for the same reason... Davey was cool and so was Pearson!!! I love the nascar legends reunion videos and that's how I know just a lil bit about him... it's 4 hours long but I will tell you it's well worth every single minute...

[@terryharvey8020]

Seeing this looking at the background is like going home. I lived 1/4 mile from the silver fox .I talked to him on several occasions at his property. He was a good friend of a uncle of mine also a older guy I worked with was also a friend of both of them. I asked Mr. Pearson about them he told me to tell them to look him up and give him a call so they could catch up with each other. He was a class act and a great man. R.I.P. SILVER FOX

[@JamesAyars-y7s]

Pearson wasn't just great, he was the greatest.

[@briantaylor6562]

Racing success and fame never changed David Pearson, or any other of that class of drivers. That's class, real class.

[@davidmcmahan3351]

RIP Silver Fox they don't make um like him any more. One of the best ever.

[@BSNFabricating]

This is the whole problem with today's NASCAR. The giants -- guys like David Pearson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker, and the Allisons -- were guys you could relate to, because they weren't any different than the rest of us. They've had a lot of success, and people put them on a pedestal, but they were and are down to earth real people who had to work their way up, and they never forgot where they came from. They didn't have rich parents to buy them a career. Earnhardt was probably the last of that breed.

[@mikeyoungblood1642]

He has to have had one of the COOLEST trophy rooms! In an old Grocery Store!

[@skooby_doobie_doonkann3334]

I'd have to say he may have been the greatest driver to ever drive inn the Winston cup. He was dominant on every kind of track. Richard Petty even eluded many times to how great he was

[@lskiller1903]

Pearson and Petty finished races running 1st and 2nd to each other 63 times, with Pearson coming in 1st 33 times.

[@Jmeon4eva]

@@lskiller1903 Considering it was a friendly rivalry to find out who was best and leave it at that, rather than a I'm gonna kill you rivalry like Earnhardt v Bodine, it was a rivalry that built the rock Nascar was built upon

[@terryharvey8020]

I read a article where Richard Petty said that Pearson was the smartest driver he ever raced. He said if he was behind David and he went left he went left if he went right he went right if he hit the wall he would hit him in the ass

[@dougrogillio2223]

Ray Fox labeled his car the Red Fox. When Pearson began driving for Ray thus became known as a sly driver others began to call him the Grey Fox, a play on words due to his premature gray hair. It soon morphed into the Silver Fox as Petty did not want to offend him thinking he was ridiculing his gray hair. It was Petty that began calling him the Silver Fox.

[@klaseronen7535]

Somehow I feel that there was something similar with David Pearson and Jim Clark, the 2-times Formula One World Champion and Indy 500 winner. The number of wins and championships doesn't tell the whole truth. There was something very special in both of these great racing legends. And they were gentlemen.

[@lskiller1903]

In 1999 Sports Illastrated named David Pearson the driver of the century. Richard Petty said David Peason was the greatest driver he ever raced against, when the King could have said his very own NASCAR Champion Father Lee Petty.

[@bobsmith-ru7xp]

I'm a Spartanburg Co. Boy myself. Woodruff SC is where I'm from, so this man is a hero. I wish I could live in the Spartanburg we see here. There's so goddamn much new housing and industrial devolopment coming around here now it just makes me hate where I live. I grew up in a country area but country around here just keeps getting harder to find.

[@joshg9148]

Amen! I was born and raised here my whole life. I live in Lyman now. Traffic and new houses everywhere. DAMN YANKESS!!!

[@royhoco5748]

most of my life I have lived within a mile or so of David Pearson, I delivered newspapers to his home in Glenwood Estates when I was a teenager and he always remembered later in life, he always recognized me and spoke when our paths crossed. I left out of Spartanburg airport one morning in a one engine Cessna 150 for some pleasure flying. I was about 10 mile east of the airport headed toward Myrtle Beach when a red and white very fast twin engine aircraft passed about 20 feet off my left wing, so close I could see the number 21 on the side of the plane and I knew who it was. to this day I think David saw me take off and just wanted to give me a quick thrill, I found out later he was headed for Darlington that morning and I guess I was in the way.

[@chrisjohnson7940]

I am jealous would have loved to talk to him for an hour

[@thestraydawgs]

God bless and keep David Pearson and Brock Yates. One of the greatest drivers of all time (Pearson) and one of the greatest auto journalist of all time (Brock Yates).

[@foothillfoo5761]

So true🎉

[@thestraydawgs]

@@foothillfoo5761 Thanks, I'm glad we agree. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Pearson one night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This was back in the days before everybody had a motorhome. Someone there (not David) had a converted Greyhound bus in the paddock area and I was working that weekend for the speedway as a debris scraper. My wife and I happened by this "new concept" of a motorhome and David was in the doorway. He invited us up to take a look and he was agog at how nice it was. What impressed me was how nice HE was. He was very friendly and down to earth. If you didn't know who he was, you would have never guessed that he was a sports celebrity. He was an outstanding driver and a really decent human being. On most really fast tracks, he was hard to beat in any car.

[@patrelleclifton4942]

The best ever R.I.P

[@garywilson2579]

I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones. I've spent a fair amount of time with David and he was a good friend. I've have worked with Cotton Owens, Bud Moore, and have known all the racers from the Spartanburg area since the early '60s. Cotton, Bud and then David have all since passed. I'm saddened that David may have suffered the most (although he may not have realized it... Alzheimer's). I'm saddened for his family and the vast number of friends he left behind. I also knew Brock Yates and have competed with him in the past. He was one of the "good guys" and knew a lot of the "behind-the-scenes-stuff" going in NASCAR although he did not write a lot about it. (Just as well... because he could have been banned from NASCAR like I was... because I knew too much.) I'm writing this under an old friends name who is no longer with us too. I could say a lot more, but I shall stay out of sight for now. Gary, I apologize for using your handle.

[@lskiller1903]

Yeah ok what ever you say there buddy.

[@barryduckworth5224]

I worked at Michelin with a guy named Gary Wilson, but that was 25 years ago. He had worked with Bobby Allison at one time and had a lot of good stories about some of the creative things they did. I always liked Pearson,he was as friendly an down to earth as he could be. I couldn't really say he was my friend, but I have been to his house,and his shop, and he knew me good enough to speak if we met out at a car show or a cruise in or something. It was really sad when the Alzheimer's set in. He was always so smart, hated to see him go down like that.

[@davidhayes5961]

I like Barry's response better than killers

[@RoadRunnergarage8570]

The Silver Fox... Second in all time wins to My Childhood Hero Richard Petty.. David was still one of my all time favorites...RIP David...

[@paulsummers2640]

I love it when he waves at the Ford Falcon that drives past.

[@jeremythompson9122]

I think David Pearson is the best driver in the history of NASCAR. He didn't win as many races as Richard Petty but Petty also ran a lot more races than the Silver Fox did. Richard Petty himself said that David Pearson is the best driver he ever competed against.

[@dannycoker6439]

Jeremy Thompson Jeremy (with respect) I read a book where RP said the exact same thing.HE was a remarkable man,can you imagine him blowing bye you with a cigarette in his mouth.LOL

[@J.B24]

Every time they did a taping it seems like it was cloudy or rainy.

[@es7614]

Best ever. Full stop. And an honest and modest champion as you'll ever see.

[@JohnRichard-f3q]

I was a Pearson fan for many years and that Purolator Mercury 21 was a work of art.

[@jjstratford]

The fact that he won 105 races, while competing against Petty, Roberts, Junior, etc. is unreal.

[@jasonvogue4487]

Brock Yates !!! And David Pearson !! Legends legends legends

[@garyross1279]

The best. Won 18% of the races he entered.

[@askwhy2030]

The host called him the gray fox ....he is known as the silver fox

[@KK-ex5zu]

I know, that's so f***ed up! And that was back when TNN was The Nashville Network. You would've thought back in the 80's out of all the cable channels that would've been the last channel to screw up NASCAR facts and nicknames.

[@jdhaynes9887]

I was a Bobby Allison fan but David was great

[@andrewrcmadwilkinson6999]

JUST WISH DAVID AND THE WOODS BROTHERS DI FULL SEASONS COULD HAVE WON SOME CHAMPIONSHIPS

[@lskiller1903]

Pearson never ran a full season with any race team. When he drove for Holman Moody he only missed one race one season but that's the closest he ever came to running a full season.

[@unitedwestand5100]

My mother loved David Pearson. He was a great driver. Better than Petty...

[@Jmeon4eva]

If only he'd gotten with a team that ran full schedule instead of the wood's

[@Jmeon4eva]

But.... that 21 driven by Pearson is an icon so, it is what it is lol

[@unitedwestand5100]

@@Jmeon4eva ,. Pearson won 3 Championships. 66, 68, and 69. In 66 he won in a #6 Cotton Owen's Chrysler . In 68, and 69 he won in the #17 Hollman, Moody, Ford Torino. That is the car he's most remembered for. #17..... The only thing he's remembered for driving the #21 car is it was his only win at Daytona. #21 was Yarbrough's car.... It won several Daytona races with Yarborough driving it....

[@unitedwestand5100]

@@Jmeon4eva ,. He didn't cotton to team owners, or teams. He won Rookie of the Year driving his own car. When he bent the frame the next year, he went back to building houses for a living. He only came back when Ray Fox asked him to drive a car he had built the engine for. Even then, Pearson almost didnt accept it. The two didnt trust each other.... Pearson was his own man. That's for sure, but he was a talented driver.

[@joshg9148]

The pride of Spartanburg. The greatest of all time!

[@lskiller1903]

AMEN!!!!!! He absolutely was the best circle track driver to ever drive a race car. He won three championships and never ran the full schedule.

[@dougrogillio2223]

As well as The Marshall Tucker Band

[@joshg9148]

@@dougrogillio2223 Yes sir.

[@joshg9148]

@@lskiller1903 👌

[@bobbyc6028]

most people don't know that pearson ran part time for most of his career. but in spite of the part time schedule he still has the #1 winning percentage of all time.

[@bossford1966]

The best ever

[@garywells1294]

Without a doubt

[@lskiller1903]

Yes he was!!!!

[@chrisjohnson7940]

The best in my life time

[@stevetaylor1520]

In his heyday, had Pearson either been a hemi, or if Big Bill would have allowed the 427 Cammer, he would have won 50 more races.

[@darrellsomers5427]

The best !

[@klonidier]

We miss you Fox.

[@hemihead001]

The greatest thing about that generation ( Pearson , Petty , Baker , Allison Bros. ) is that knew how to win and better still knew how to lose with grace and dignity . Unlike today they were gentlemen .

[@HODIUSDUDE]

Great UL..Thanks!

[@joshuafarmer3467]

I love how he called him the "Gray Fox" and nowadays he is called the "Silver Fox."

[@joshg9148]

He's always been the Silver Fox. I don't know why he called him the Gray Fox

[@stansmad]

I think he was one of the top 5 easily. Doesn't he have the best winning % ? 🤔

[@operationoverloard]

When men were men and knew it.

[@racefan8418]

What year was this interview

[@Calhoun98]

It aired early in 1984.

[@johnlaws9230]

Tha Gray Fox that cat needs to do his home work before he interviews anyone!!!! Who edited this video.

[@skooby_doobie_doonkann3334]

John Laws i noticed that. It was the silver fox

[@badbooking3221]

Brock Yates doesn't need to do homework. He's a hallowed and accoladed automotive journalist of any time. Even professionals are not immune to mistakes, watch any auto race on television and you'll hear multiple flubs every weekend.

[@lskiller1903]

@@badbooking3221 Look we all know who Brock Yates is and yes ole boy he needs to do his homework. Because when you get the Silver Fox'es name wrong that's a major flub guy. Would he flub and call Richard Petty the Queen? For that mistake to make it into the final cut is beyond a flub there buddy it's a major journalism mistake period.

[@billnoel1895]

@@lskiller1903 was called the grey fox at one time according to one comment says Richard started calling him that and I am pretty sure I remember a video were Richard said it sly fox then grey fox finally silver fox pretty sure Brock Yates would know better than anyone on here

[@CC.94]

The grey fox ? C'mon Brock, It's the Silver fox. There's a difference.

[@drivin379]

Silver fox not gray fox

[@jjstratford]

Silver, not grey

[@ufunkdocfunk]

Silver fox

[@buckwoods9507]

I think that Brock Yates was into sports cars and Indy racing......Not sure that he ever understood NASCAR racing

[@lskiller1903]

He thinks David Pearson is the gray fox, I agree.!!

[@ixlr8677]

silver fox...