NASCAR Then and Now - Ben White [3]
Second only to Petty in career wins with 105, David Pearson was one of NASCAR’s most mysterious drivers. During the early stages of a race, he often left everyone—including his crew—wondering how fast his car was, waiting until the final 100 miles of the race to make his move for the win. This strategy earned the three-time champion the nickname “The Silver Fox.” The most successful period of Pearson’s career came when he collected 43 wins for the famed Wood Brothers team between 1972 and 1979, including 11 wins in just 18 starts in 1973.
“Determined” might be the best word to describe Cale Yarborough. He made his unofficial NASCAR debut as a teenager during the inaugural Southern 500 in 1950. He snuck through the fence at Darlington Raceway, jumped into a friend’s car, and drove in the race. A NASCAR official caught the underage racer and had him escorted off the premises. The South Carolinian would go on to become one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, notching 83 wins in a 38-year career. His greatest success was winning three consecutive championships in 1976, 1977, and 1978 while driving for Junior Johnson.
Darrell Waltrip (DW) appeared on the NASCAR scene in 1972 as an aggressive and outspoken driver who wasn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers. He won his first race in 1975 at Nashville, Tennessee, in his own Chevrolet before becoming a hired driver with many prominent teams. DW collected 84 wins and three NASCAR titles in 1981, 1982, and 1985, before retiring from driving in 2000. He has spent the last decade working in the broadcast booth for Fox and SpeedTV.
Dale Earnhardt’s impact on the sport of stock car racing is rivaled only by Richard Petty’s. The North Carolina native followed his father, Ralph Earnhardt, into a career in NASCAR, making his first Winston Cup start in 1975. He served notice of his talent by winning Rookie of the Year honors in 1979 and the 1980 NASCAR championship. For the next 20 years, he was the man to beat, earning 76 wins and titles in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994. Earnhardt’s driving style earned him the nickname “The Intimidator,” an image enhanced by the solid black paint schemes of his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets.
Born in California, Jeff Gordon entered NASCAR after an incredibly successful career in sprint cars. He made his debut in the second-tier Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), before moving up to NASCAR’s elite division in 1992, where he won Rookie of the Year honors. Gordon took his first victory at the Charlotte 600-mile race, beginning a run that currently stands at 82 victories and 4 championships (1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001) through 2009, all with team owner Rick Hendrick. After 18 seasons in the sport, Gordon remains a perennial title contender and one of NASCAR’s top drivers.
Since his Busch Series debut in 1998, Jimmie Johnson has quietly built a phenomenal career on par with the sport’s greatest legends. After a recommendation from Jeff Gordon, the soft-spoken California native joined Hendrick Motorsports for three events in 2001. Driving full-time for the team in 2002, he was paired with crew chief Chad Knaus, and the two began building a dynasty that has resulted in four consecutive championships in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 . . . and counting.
Crew Chiefs
During NASCAR’s early days, the men who called the shots in the shop and on pit road were often referred to as chief mechanics. They usually carried the responsibility of the entire team on their shoulders, including getting the cars to the track and organizing the makeshift, volunteer pit crew into a cohesive unit. After a win, those chief