It has been nearly 47 years since the late David Pearson's infamous pitstop incident with Wood Brothers Racing, but it is a monumental part of NASCAR lore. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has previously commented on the incident, has shared a new take on the same.

The incident took place during the 1979 CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 at Darlington, when Pearson's team called him in for a four-tire pitstop. Unfortunately, after two tires were changed, a "Whoa!" from a crew member sounded like "Go!" to Pearson, who pushed the throttle.

His left-side tires weren't bolted on and came off at the end of the pit lane. A few days after the incident that disqualified him from the race, David Pearson shockingly parted ways with the team in what was a culmination of small frustrations over time.

This very incident was revisited in a recent X post shared by prominent NASCAR historian Jay Coker. Dale Jr., who often engages with his work, reposted it and added his own thoughts. He expressed a wish that could potentially rewrite NASCAR history, you know, if genies were real.

"I wanna run up to the window net and tell David, ‘I know this feels bad, but don't y’all don't do anything rash this week,'" Dale Jr. wrote.

Pearson began racing for Wood Brothers Racing in 1972 and recorded an immensely successful seven years with the team, winning 43 races. Though there was some friction between the two parties, the partnership could have yielded more podiums and wins had it continued, and significantly impacted NASCAR's history.

The three-time champion's sudden exit from the team became quite a heated topic back in the day. However, both parties would later go on to regret this move.

Miscommunication On The Track, and Off of It

In an interaction on the "Scene Vault" Podcast in 2018, David Pearson reflected on the Darlington incident. He opened up on the breakup with Wood Brothers Racing, and explained that the pitstop fiasco wasn't the main reason for it.

“It wasn’t about the tires," said Pearson. "We were about to break up anyway. We had gotten to where we argued about small things that didn’t matter what it was. That’s usually what happens; we weren’t winning."

The three-time champion also revealed misunderstandings between the two parties, adding:

"I heard they were blaming me, and I also heard that they said I was blaming them, which they were getting information from the wrong man, because I have never said anything about the Wood Brothers about them being bad or anything being their fault or anything like that.

"To me, they are the greatest people that I ever drove for. The whole family is just as nice as they could be," Pearson concluded.

Pearson returned to Darlington in a matter of months with Osterlund Racing. At the Southern 500, he drove as a replacement for Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was recovering from an injury.

His final win, the 105th of his career, also came at Darlington in 1980. However, Dale Jr was sure that the late NASCAR icon could have "won another dozen races" had the split never happened. Pearson's performances after his final victory were never the same, but retirement came a bit later in 1986.

Who knows how much more he could’ve accomplished if both parties had simply talked their differences out?

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Yask Kotak