[3] Pearson's career paralleled Richard Petty's, the driver who has won the most races in NASCAR history.

Petty went further by saying that he believed Pearson would have pulled off 200 victories like him, if he ran the full schedules of NASCAR racing.

He worked with his brother in a car body repair shop and used the money earned to purchase a Ford coach.

[7] Pearson began racing in NASCAR's Grand National series during the 1960 season[8] shortly after winning the 1959 track championship at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

[9] His first NASCAR start was the first 1960 Daytona 500 qualifying race and he finished 17th in a self-owned car that he had purchased from Jack White.

[8] When Pearson bent the frame of his own race car early in the 1961 season, he began working as a house roofer in Spartanburg to support his family, which included two sons.

Pearson was unsure if he should join the team, and Fox was not convinced that he should trust his car to the relatively untested 26-year-old driver.

[11] After Pearson had a successful test run, he qualified the car with the third fastest time behind Richard Petty and Joe Weatherly.

Pearson drove the car around the track slowly for the final lap at approximately 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) to take the victory.

Pearson drove a Dodge Dart station wagon nicknamed the "Cotton Picker" for Owens.

[21] NASCAR owner Bill France, Sr. adjusted the engine rules later in the season to bring back Mopar drivers; Petty and Pearson ended up competing in 14 of 55 events.

[22] Early in the season, Pearson won at Hickory, Columbia, Greenville-Pickens, and Winston-Salem Speedway to complete four straight victories.

Pearson led the Daytona 500 under caution with 13 laps remaining and changed only his right side tires in a two-tire pit stop.

Fearing that Petty would do a slingshot pass, he slowed a little, pulled his car off to the side to simulate a blown motor, and threw his hand up in the air as a motion of defeat.

Coming out of the final corner, Pearson pulled to the inside and did a slingshot pass back to win the race by a car length.

[50] In 1975, NASCAR changed to the points system that it would use for nearly three decades until the current Chase for the Cup format was implemented in 2004.

Petty, who was 8 laps down after several unscheduled pit stops due to engine overheating, began drafting with Parsons and the duo started closing on Pearson.

[55] With Petty unable to restart his car, Pearson slowly drove his Wood Brothers Mercury over the grassy infield past the finish line for his only Daytona 500 victory.

[26] Osterlund hired Pearson to replace Earnhardt during four races; he collected the pole position at Michigan and won the 1979 Southern 500.

[67] His season was highlighted by winning the pole position for Kennie Childers at Dover and two Top 10 finishes at Darlington.

[68] Pearson entered his first NASCAR Busch Grand National (now Xfinity Series) race that season.

[70] He started from the pole position for his final Busch Grand National race at Dover; it resulted in a twelfth-place finish.

[76] After a three-year hiatus, Pearson planned to come out of retirement in 1989, replacing the injured Neil Bonnett in the Wood Brothers' No.

Following testing for the event, however, he suffered severe neck and back pain, and chose instead to announce his retirement; Tommy Ellis replaced Pearson for the race.

[1] He was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1998.

[40] He was one of ten finalists for the Driver of the Quarter Century (1967–91) sponsored by a United States businessman; Mario Andretti won the award.

[78] In mid-1999, Sports Illustrated used votes from 40 NASCAR insiders to name Pearson the Top Stock Car Driver of the Twentieth Century.

[80] NASCAR named the five people to be inducted in its 2010 class and it stated that he finished between sixth and eighth place.

[6][82] At the induction ceremony, Pearson said that he felt the inaugural class should include more pioneers such as Raymond Parks, Tim Flock, and Lee Petty.

[120] In December 2014, Pearson suffered a mild stroke which partially paralyzed the left half of his body, from which he recovered.