{"id":1573944,"date":"2023-06-30T22:50:38","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T02:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1573944"},"modified":"2023-06-30T22:50:39","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T02:50:39","slug":"why-richard-petty-and-david-pearson-feuded-50-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/why-richard-petty-and-david-pearson-feuded-50-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Richard Petty and David Pearson Feuded 50 Years Ago This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>One frequent lament of <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/nascar\/\">NASCAR<\/a> fans is that there is no longer a Firecracker 400 at Daytona on Independence Day weekend. It resonates this week as we recall the 50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of a rare instance in which <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/lee-petty-taught-richard-petty-life-lesson-made-extra-200\/\">Richard Petty<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/nascar-will-jeff-gordon-or-david-pearson-crash-party-on-the-intimidator-the-king-and-jj\/\">David Pearson<\/a> exchanged harsh words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-will-the-chicago-street-race-become-the-new-early-july-fixture\"><strong>Will the Chicago street race become the new early-July fixture?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1071\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/David-Pearson-Richard-Petty.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=731&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"David Pearson and Richard Petty talk before a race in an undated photo.  | ISC Archives\/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images\" class=\"wp-image-1573946\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Pearson and Richard Petty talk before a race in an undated photo.  | ISC Archives\/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Six decades of tradition ended in 2019 with the final running of the Firecracker 400 as an Independence Day weekend institution at Daytona. The name changed years earlier, but it was still the Firecracker 400 to many fans whose list of heroes typically included the likes of Richard Petty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASCAR moved to Indianapolis on the corresponding weekend in 2020 and then to Road America in Wisconsin for the next two years. This year\u2019s Cup Series schedule dropped Road America for the inaugural <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/chicago-street-race-isnt-close-to-nascars-oddest-race-venue\/\">Chicago street race<\/a>. NASCAR has a three-year contract with the city, but a change of mayors has already cast uncertainty on 2024. If Sunday\u2019s Cup Series race doesn\u2019t pan out, then NASCAR could move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no indication officials would return the early July date to Daytona International Speedway. That track is building another tradition to go along with the season-opening Daytona 500. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 has become the final race of the regular season, determining the 16-driver field for the playoffs beginning the following weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Richard Petty dueled with David Pearson in 1973<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"1974 Firecracker 400 last lap\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/co7F0dUhHA4?start=81&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting in 1964, Richard Petty and David Pearson accounted for nine of 12 NASCAR Cup Series championships. Petty was primarily driving Plymouths and Dodges for the organization founded by his father. Pearson mostly drove Fords and Mercurys for several teams, most notably the Wood Brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a rivalry between the drivers and manufacturers, for sure. And while rivalries sometimes cross the line into animosity, there had been little to suggest anything other than respect between Petty and Pearson until the aftermath of the 1973 Firecracker 400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That year\u2019s race was noteworthy on a couple of fronts. First, NASCAR tinkered with rules governing carburetor restrictors, a move seen as favoring Chevys, beginning with that year\u2019s Firecracker. Secondly, it represented one of the best days of driving by country music star Marty Robbins, who started 36<sup>th<\/sup> in the field and finished eighth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The race itself was unremarkable, and there were just two caution flags. Pearson took his first lead on Lap 35, and Petty moved out front for the first time on Lap 79. The two were the only competitors to lead over the final 56 laps, and Pearson took the checkered flag for his eighth victory of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Richard Petty and David Pearson feuded<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1202\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/David-Pearson.jpg?w=925&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"David Pearson behind the wheel of the Wood Brothers Purolator Mercury during a 1973 practice session at Daytona International Speedway. ISC Images &amp; Archives via Getty Images\" class=\"wp-image-1573947\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">David Pearson behind the wheel of the Wood Brothers Purolator Mercury during a 1973 practice session at Daytona International Speedway. ISC Images &amp; Archives via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Officially speaking, David Pearson led the last 20 laps of the 1973 Firecracker 400, which is to say he was at the front each time the field reached the start\/finish line. However, there was a curious moment on the final lap. With the white flag out, Pearson slowed just enough to allow Richard Petty to pass him on the 2.5-mile superspeedway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Pearson rallied, retook the lead, and crossed the finish line first by a safe margin. A newspaper account by St. Petersburg Times reporter Jack Flower quoted Petty as saying Pearson\u2019s antics were a \u201cstupid move.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The drivers were being interviewed separately when Pearson overheard his rival lament that the No. 21 Mercury was so much faster than his own No. 43 Dodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf you think my car\u2019s that much faster than yours,\u201d Pearson sniped, \u201cthen maybe you ought to let the Wood Brothers start building your cars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pearson and Petty continued with the separate interviews, and it was clear Petty wasn\u2019t happy with what transpired on the final lap. As Pearson walked  away after concluding his comments, he was overheard telling a friend, \u201cIt will be a long time before that S.O.B. wins another race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Actually, it took Petty just two months to score his next victory, the 160<sup>th<\/sup> of what would eventually become 200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Got a question or observation about racing? Sports7\u2019s John Moriello does a mailbag column each Friday. Write to him at JohnM@Sports7.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of a rare rift between two of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":1573945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[253795],"tags":[118377,16060],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Richard Petty and David Pearson Feuded 50 Years Ago This Week - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Pearson&#039;s curious move on the last lap of the 1973 Firecracker 400 at Daytona infuriated fellow NASCAR legend Richard Petty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/why-richard-petty-and-david-pearson-feuded-50-years-ago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Richard Petty and David Pearson Feuded 50 Years Ago This Week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"David Pearson&#039;s curious move on the last lap of the 1973 Firecracker 400 at Daytona infuriated fellow NASCAR legend Richard Petty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/why-richard-petty-and-david-pearson-feuded-50-years-ago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-01T02:50:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-01T02:50:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/David-Pearson-and-Richard-Petty.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Moriello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Sports7J\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Moriello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/why-richard-petty-and-david-pearson-feuded-50-years-ago\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/why-richard-petty-and-david-pearson-feuded-50-years-ago\/\",\"name\":\"Why Richard Petty and David Pearson Feuded 50 Years Ago This Week - 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A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR. Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls. John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.","sameAs":["","Sports7J","john-moriello-1a11743","",""],"jobTitle":"John Moriello | Sports7 Staff Writer, Producer - Motorsports","email":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573944"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573948,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573944\/revisions\/1573948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1573945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1573944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1573944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}