NASCAR.....Did they say he missed 11 races and won the championship?

[25drtrkr]

So does this make Kyle Busch the "Quintessential Champion"!

My vote for Driver of the Year is still Matt Kenseth, and Im not a big fan of his! (moreso now)!

[WVRACEFAN]

This is no different that the WoO & Lucus series awarding hardship points when one of theyre top guys misses a race.

[Raceready]

A race, maybe yes. But not 11. Renegade Stars used to have 1 throw away race in their series for the driver to go to a wedding, graduation, or whatever. If you raced every race you would throw out the race with the worst finish.

[jog49]

I don't think anybody would argue that David Pearson was one of the best drivers ever in NASCAR. He raced for 28 seasons and never, ever ran all the races in a single one of those seasons. If you don't care for Busch, just say so.
Don't dance around the excuse that he didn't run all the races. NASCAR allowed a medical exemption which allowed Busch to compete for the championship and he abided by the letter of the law. He is, after all, a pretty (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) good driver having won over 150 NASCAR sponsored races, I believe. If you want to blame someone, blame that little nappy headed dimwit who now runs NASCAR. He'll try anything to save what his grandfather built but has no earthly idea what to do. He can start by making the drivers race. Only award points for the top 5 finishing positions and 1 point for every lap led.....period. Do away with this lucky dog BS and any other award where a driver gets a benefit for doing absolutely nothing. And for God's sake, quit sending a driver out every week with a barrel of debris behind the seat to throw out on the track at all the opportune times!

[A ron]

I have no problem with not running all the races and being able to win. My problem is only being able to miss certain ones (the first 26 races)

[CIRF]

I don't think anybody would argue that David Pearson was one of the best drivers ever in NASCAR. He raced for 28 seasons and never, ever ran all the races in a single one of those seasons. If you don't care for Busch, just say so.
Don't dance around the excuse that he didn't run all the races. NASCAR allowed a medical exemption which allowed Busch to compete for the championship and he abided by the letter of the law. He is, after all, a pretty (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) good driver having won over 150 NASCAR sponsored races, I believe. If you want to blame someone, blame that little nappy headed dimwit who now runs NASCAR. He'll try anything to save what his grandfather built but has no earthly idea what to do. He can start by making the drivers race. Only award points for the top 5 finishing positions and 1 point for every lap led.....period. Do away with this lucky dog BS and any other award where a driver gets a benefit for doing absolutely nothing. And for God's sake, quit sending a driver out every week with a barrel of debris behind the seat to throw out on the track at all the opportune times!

Not trying to nitpick jog but David Pearson ran the full schedule, or at least attempted to qualify for all the races, 3 times. 1966, 1968 & 1969. Those 3 years were the only times David ran the full schedule and he won the championship ALL 3 YEARS. In 1968 Pearson maintained an AVERAGE FINISH of 5.8 while running a 48 race schedule.

Pearson never once did not start a race because of an injury sustained in a racecar.

Doctors from Duke University Medical Center once wired David up with a heart rate monitor to get a reading on his pulse during a race at Darlington. The doctors coordinated the video of the race with the monitor to see in how his heart rate reacted in varying race situations. Much to their surprise David's heart rate WENT DOWN when he was in the most heated racing situations.

David Pearson was VERY, VERY confident and comfortable in a racecar. He is widely considered the best driver ever to drive a NASCAR stock car and that consideration is very hard to dispute. He wasn't known to wreck people, to win a race or when running 12th. He didn't need to wreck anyone to win a race, he just out drove them.

I agree 100% jog, points should only be rewarded to the top 10 or 12 finishers. Among other things, it would eliminate the need to fix a car and get it back onto the track when it's 20, 30 or 40 laps down.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Silver Fox

Not trying to nitpick jog but David Pearson ran the full schedule, or at least attempted to qualify for all the races, 3 times. 1966, 1968 & 1969. Those 3 years were the only times David ran the full schedule and he won the championship ALL 3 YEARS. In 1968 Pearson maintained an AVERAGE FINISH of 5.8 while running a 48 race schedule.

Pearson never once did not start a race because of an injury sustained in a racecar.

Doctors from Duke University Medical Center once wired David up with a heart rate monitor to get a reading on his pulse during a race at Darlington. The doctors coordinated the video of the race with the monitor to see in how his heart rate reacted in varying race situations. Much to their surprise David's heart rate WENT DOWN when he was in the most heated racing situations.

David Pearson was VERY, VERY confident and comfortable in a racecar. He is widely considered the best driver ever to drive a NASCAR stock car and that consideration is very hard to dispute. He wasn't known to wreck people, to win a race or when running 12th. He didn't need to wreck anyone to win a race, he just out drove them.

I agree 100% jog, points should only be rewarded to the top 10 or 12 finishers. Among other things, it would eliminate the need to fix a car and get it back onto the track when it's 20, 30 or 40 laps down.

Was my Dads' favorite. He still signs autographs at trade shows once in awhile. Lives on a farm in SC and rides a Harley I believe. IMO, yes, best of that era, if not ever.

[CIRF]

Was my Dads' favorite. He still signs autographs at trade shows once in awhile. Lives on a farm in SC and rides a Harley I believe. IMO, yes, best of that era, if not ever.

cnbf, David had an abdominal aneurysm back in October of 2014 which landed him in the hospital for about a week and then in early December 2014 he had a mild stroke. From what I've read he's doing well and is nearly 100% recovered from the stroke. Don't know if he's back driving or riding his Harley these days or not.

I had a chance to meet David a few years back and circumstances played out that I missed him by about 1/2 hour. It was at Du Quoin prior to the ARCA race on the Magic Mile. David's son was racing that day. We stayed on the lake about a half hour too long. Still makes me mad but we had no one else to blame but ourselves.

David Pearson was one of those guys that if you gave him a reason he'd "tune you up" so to speak. A young Tim Richmond crossed that painful line once. Legend has it that Tim came looking for David after the 1984 Firecracker 400. Tim was pissed off because he believed Pearson's car was throwing oil and Richmond thought David should have parked it. Well, Tim made the painful mistake of getting in David's face and saying something like "listen you old fool". One punch and Richmond ended up on his ass with a big fat black eye for about a week.

Pearson and Junior Johnson are widely considered the 2 best drivers in NASCAR history. Both were not comfortable in the limelight and both were perfect gentlemen until ya' pissed 'em off.

Many of the drivers of today could learn a whole lot from guys like Pearson, Johnson, The King, Cale and Bobby Allison, among others. Don't run your mouth and be willing to throw down to settle a score as opposed to wrecking each others equipment and putting lives in danger.

[blncfn57]

It is not the rules! The rule says you must attempt to qualify for every race. It was a "waiver" that got him in. So, yes, in a sense they changed the rules. Guys have always had to be careful what they did in their free time to make sure they were healthy for the season that paid the bills. Kyle wanting to be a big fish in a little pond should not excuse him from the rules that the majority of the drivers had to go by. Most guys are dedicated to NSCS racing and plan their lives around it.... that's what champions do, not put themselves in harms way and expect the sympathy train to come rescue them. How many guys have been taken out of a championship season because of injuries over the years? What a kick in the balls to all of them. It's heartbreaking to see the pussification of America trickle down into racing. Kyle is a beast behind the wheel, but if your kid missed 1/3 of soccer season, they wouldn't even get a participation trophy.

[blncfn57]

Denny Hamlin was eligible for Chase after he suffered his injury last year. He suffered his injury about the same time Kyle Busch did. Although he didn't miss as many races. Funny..... I didn't hear any b!tching about it then. If you didn't think they were gonna give Busch a pass providing he met the criteria. Then your head has been in the sand.

Before 1969 MLB decided there champion by just having two teams playing one round of playoffs for the World Series. Then it went to 2 rounds.... Then 3.... Then 4. Had it been before 1969 the last two (atleast) World Series champions wouldn't even had made the playoffs.

You can point to every major professional sport and see where they've made format changes. Including adding teams to the playoff.

There was no b!tching then because Hamlins mouth always gets in the way of a championship anyway. As for guys bragging about Kyle Busch having 150 Nascar wins..... he has like 34 cup wins... and one championship now (that will be overshadowed by the drunk Brian Frances "quick to react" persona.) All that in 11- 12 seasons doesn't put him on top of any list, altho he is on the list.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Happy Thanksgiving CIRF

cnbf, David had an abdominal aneurysm back in October of 2014 which landed him in the hospital for about a week and then in early December 2014 he had a mild stroke. From what I've read he's doing well and is nearly 100% recovered from the stroke. Don't know if he's back driving or riding his Harley these days or not.

I had a chance to meet David a few years back and circumstances played out that I missed him by about 1/2 hour. It was at Du Quoin prior to the ARCA race on the Magic Mile. David's son was racing that day. We stayed on the lake about a half hour too long. Still makes me mad but we had no one else to blame but ourselves.

David Pearson was one of those guys that if you gave him a reason he'd "tune you up" so to speak. A young Tim Richmond crossed that painful line once. Legend has it that Tim came looking for David after the 1984 Firecracker 400. Tim was pissed off because he believed Pearson's car was throwing oil and Richmond thought David should have parked it. Well, Tim made the painful mistake of getting in David's face and saying something like "listen you old fool". One punch and Richmond ended up on his ass with a big fat black eye for about a week.

Pearson and Junior Johnson are widely considered the 2 best drivers in NASCAR history. Both were not comfortable in the limelight and both were perfect gentlemen until ya' pissed 'em off.

Many of the drivers of today could learn a whole lot from guys like Pearson, Johnson, The King, Cale and Bobby Allison, among others. Don't run your mouth and be willing to throw down to settle a score as opposed to wrecking each others equipment and putting lives in danger.

Thanks for the info CIRF, as always, top notch stuff. Guessing that's why my Dad liked him. And yeah, I laugh at the "fights", any of these drivers in NASCRAP get in anymore. A.J, Hewitt, Charlie Swartz, David, Allisons, Yarborough etc, could help them out.

[jog49]

I always liked this story, which is true, by the way:

“Darlington always has been a ‘white knuckle’ track for almost every driver,” Buddy Baker recalled recently. “Things were getting especially tense in that ’76 race because David and I had been back and forth at each other so much, swapping the lead. I know that I felt tension, and I figured David did, too.

“Then, going down the backstretch, he pulled alongside to pass. I looked over and David was driving with one hand and lighting a cigarette with the other!

“He appeared just as cool as if he was sitting in a rocking chair on his porch back home. I’ve got to be honest. It unsettled me a little bit.”

Pearson led the last 12 laps to edge Baker by seven-tenths of a second.

Other drivers also have told of seeing Pearson drive by while firing up a smoke with a cigarette lighter that was built into the dash of the Wood Brothers cars he drove to so many victories.

[drano]

Darlington was my first big race I attended fell in love with the place went there with the 72 rookie of the year.

[CIRF]

It is not the rules! The rule says you must attempt to qualify for every race. It was a "waiver" that got him in. So, yes, in a sense they changed the rules. Guys have always had to be careful what they did in their free time to make sure they were healthy for the season that paid the bills. Kyle wanting to be a big fish in a little pond should not excuse him from the rules that the majority of the drivers had to go by. Most guys are dedicated to NSCS racing and plan their lives around it.... that's what champions do, not put themselves in harms way and expect the sympathy train to come rescue them. How many guys have been taken out of a championship season because of injuries over the years? What a kick in the balls to all of them. It's heartbreaking to see the pussification of America trickle down into racing. Kyle is a beast behind the wheel, but if your kid missed 1/3 of soccer season, they wouldn't even get a participation trophy.

This might be the absolute best post on this subject to date and the post and author deserves recognition. In reference to guys getting hurt and being instantly eliminated from championship contention, Sterling Marlin got hurt while in the midst of what might have been a championship run back in the early 2000's. Wonder what he would say about how things went down this season?

There was no b!tching then because Hamlins mouth always gets in the way of a championship anyway. As for guys bragging about Kyle Busch having 150 Nascar wins..... he has like 34 cup wins... and one championship now (that will be overshadowed by the drunk Brian Frances "quick to react" persona.) All that in 11- 12 seasons doesn't put him on top of any list, altho he is on the list.

Another very good post. Thank you for presenting the truth.

Thanks for the info CIRF, as always, top notch stuff. Guessing that's why my Dad liked him. And yeah, I laugh at the "fights", any of these drivers in NASCRAP get in anymore. A.J, Hewitt, Charlie Swartz, David, Allisons, Yarborough etc, could help them out.

You're more than welcome cbnf. Good to hear from you again!!

That's quite a list of punch artists you posted there! LOL! They'd all "tune you up" if they thought a guy deserved it. The best garage area dust up we've seen in a long time was when Marcos Ambrose gave Casey Mears a fairly good right hand to the side of the face after a race at Richmond a year or two ago.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

This might be the absolute best post on this subject to date and the post and author deserves recognition. In reference to guys getting hurt and being instantly eliminated from championship contention, Sterling Marlin got hurt while in the midst of what might have been a championship run back in the early 2000's. Wonder what he would say about how things went down this season?
Another very good post. Thank you for presenting the truth.

You're more than welcome cbnf. Good to hear from you again!!

That's quite a list of punch artists you posted there! LOL! They'd all "tune you up" if they thought a guy deserved it. The best garage area dust up we've seen in a long time was when Marcos Ambrose gave Casey Mears a fairly good right hand to the side of the face after a race at Richmond a year or two ago.

And the b!tch of it is he's an Aussie. Nice seeing you too CIRF