Would NASCAR really have it’s footing without the many rivalries that have emerged from it? NASCAR for decades but no other rivalry has ever come close to the Golden era of Richard Petty and David Pearson.
Petty will forever remain a NASCAR legend with his iconic cowboy hat, sunglasses, riding his unforgettable No. 43 Plymouth Car, and winning races as if he was born to do so. Over the span of his career, he won 200 victories, 7 championships, and, of course, the hearts of millions. Beyond that, Petty built a legacy that transcended the sports arena. Along with the growth in personal journey, he extensively aided in making NASCAR a national phenomenon.
But another such legend of his time, David Pearson, was no less of a megastar either. Driving the Holman-Moody No. 17 Ford, the American Hall of Famer posed a much bigger challenge to the fame that Petty had acquired. Spanning over two decades, it wasn’t just a clash on the field but a rivalry in terms of style, personality, and philosophies that elevated the tension in the sport during its golden years.
Pearson was not much further off with 105 Cup Series wins between 1960 to 1986. They competed against each other in 63 races. Pearson won 33 times while Petty had a slightly lower score of 30 wins. While Petty’s racing had been termed aggressive and calculated with a pinch of smoothness, Pearson had an opposite reputation of being tactical, patient, and handsomely skilled in handling equipment.
Seven years after the passing of Pearson, veteran motorsport writer Mike Hembree honored decades of legacy through the 2025 publication of the book ‘Petty vs. Pearson: The Rivalry that Shaped NASCAR.’
Richard Petty was all for it, writing in the caption, “So excited about this book! Petty vs Pearson-By Mike Hembree. The rivalry that shaped NASCAR!” Petty’s love for the book is only eclipsed by the admiration he felt for his rival, someone he’d described as “the best racer there ever was.”
Racing at the same time as Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Petty and Pearson were a much bigger deal altogether. Although the clash between the two had been seen many a time, the most intense of the races included that of the Firecracker 400 race, 1974 in Daytona, where they battled fiercely throughout, with Pearson’s late-race braking move, allowing him to edge out Petty by just 1/2 the car length. This further led to a confrontational exchange between the two post-race, with Pearson saying, “I thought Petty might be able to slingshot and draft past me on that last lap and that’s why I didn’t want to be leaving.”
They kept pushing each other’s limits, especially in their most iconic clash in the Daytona 500 race in 1976. The two drivers fought wheel-to-wheel into the 4th turn on the final lap, with the finish line just seconds ahead of them. Petty’s car clipped Pearson, and the contact sent both cars crashing into the side wall. Even with both cars being in a terrible condition, the drivers did not stop trying. Petty tried restarting his car while Pearson crossed the finish line at 30 miles per hour, winning the race.
Many such incidents become the crux of the book that Hembree envisioned and brought to life. The plan for the book started out a little different from what one might expect. “The original idea was to do a David Pearson biography,” Hembree said. “We really haven’t had one since 1981. In fact, I tried to do a book with Pearson when he was still alive, but he really didn’t want to sit down and do all the interviews and such to do it. But the more I got into the research, it made sense to bring the Petty story into it also because their careers were linked in so many ways. The were 1-2 in victories in Cup, they were largely contemporaries, they were the drivers of the moment in the ’60s and ’70s.”
It’s this competitive spirit that fans want to see even today, and one they saw a glimpse of when two drivers from this era went head to head against each other.
Modern NASCAR Rivalries Reigniting the Spirit of Petty vs. Pearson
NASCAR has been a sport that clearly cannot run without rivalries, be it the past, present, or future of the sport. Following the footsteps of Petty and Pearson, we now have Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin as the duo with the most aggressive driving, public jabs, and intense race battles.
Larson, on the one hand, is known for his raw speed and versatility across different racing disciplines, in stark contrast to Denny Hamlin, on the other hand, who is a calculated veteran with many wins but no trophy to show for it. Their clashes continue to grow more and more intense with every approaching racing season, both competing for supremacy at the top of the Cup Series.
The tension between the two became evident in 2023, with a series of incidents including Hamlin driving Larson into the wall during the 2023 HighPoint.com 400 race at Pocono Raceway and contact during high-stake restarts. These sparked heated exchanges between the two, with Larson stating, “I felt like I deserved to be raced with respect at least through Turn 1, but he [Hamlin] knew that was going to be his only opportunity to beat me with how bad dirty air was, so I got used up,” earning a response from Hamlin saying, “We’re racing for the win. Are you kidding me? For sure, I mean, if I’m gonna give anyone in the field respect, it’s Kyle Larson just because I respect him as a race car driver and I think he’s probably the best. So certainly, he’s got my respect, but damn I mean, we’re all racing for a win and I guarantee you, roles reversed, it goes the same way,” mirroring the infamous exchanges of their veterans almost 60 years later.
While Petty and Pearson’s clashes were characterized by mutual respect and fierce competitive spirit, Larson and Hamlin have reflected through their rivalries a mix of modern dynamics with antique racing techniques of NASCAR. Just as Petty and Pearson pushed each other to greatness, while also involving losses, perhaps Larson and Hamlin are doing the same for their own racing generation.
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