Earl Pearson, Jr.
The list of accomplishments for Earl Pearson, Jr. is a long one. The Jacksonville, Florida native has won championships and feature races that any aspiring Dirt Late Model racer would love to claim as his or her own. But the 46-year-old star is far from resting on his laurels as he competes in his thirtieth season on the track.
Coming into 2018, Pearson joined forces with longtime car builder Ronnie Stuckey to campaign Black Diamond Chassis machines on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and other premier events. And so far, the new combination has proven to be a successful one as the No. 1 team currently sits fourth in the series standings and has accumulated four LOLMDS victories along with a win during the preliminary events for the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway.
“Things are going good with the Black Diamond Chassis and the whole operation,” Pearson declared in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “The guys back at the shop and the guys here on the road, Stuckey goes with us to most every race, are working hard. It’s been good for us to put a whole new team together even though these guys haven’t really traveled on the road that much. They’ve raced around Louisiana and over that way, but to be out here week in and week out with somewhat of a newer team, it’s worked out good so far. We’re excited about it. We’ve got some wins under our belt and we’re sitting decent in the points right now with quite a few races to go so we’ll just keep plugging along and see what we can do.”
Even for veteran racers such as Pearson and Stuckey, forming a new team can offer challenges. Finding the right people to put in place is critical and can make the difference between success and failure. Further, there are only so many out there who can take on the role of serving as an over-the-road crew member for a traveling Dirt Late Model team.
“The thing of it is, me and Stuckey have traveled and done this for many years and we know what it takes as far as what kind of crew guys you need and equipment and all that kind of stuff,” the four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion explained. “The guys back at Black Diamond Chassis, the guys that put the frames together and the guys that put the bodies on, they do it everyday so that part of it is pretty much handled. It’s not that big of a deal for me and Ronnie but you get these guys that’s never been on the road for that many days a year and it gets tough. You’ve got to have a group that wants to race. You know, you live in these trucks and they’re only eight feet wide so you get the wrong person in there and things can get pretty bad. But we’ve got a good group of guys.”
Pearson is a proven winner on the track with major victories coming in the World 100, Dirt Track World Championship, and Hillbilly 100. But those wins and championships have come at a cost as racers spend many days and nights on the road away from their homes and families. But even with those drawbacks, the driver known as “The Hurricane” loves what he does for a living.
Pearson’s Black Diamond machine in action
“People don’t really understand,” Pearson said. “They’ll say you’ve got the best job in America, and don’t get me wrong, I love to do it, but when you’re gone and average of 150 days a year from your home, it makes you think a little bit. We travel up and down the road and when we travel it’s fourteen or fifteen hours, and yeah, we get to race that weekend then the team travels back home another fourteen or fifteen hours. And when they get home, they don’t get Sunday off. When they get home they’ve got to wash and take care of the maintenance. Then the next thing you know, they’re back out on the road. It’s really a seven day a week job.”
With all his years in racing and all the success he has had, is the passion for the sport still there?
“It is,” EPJ insisted. “And the biggest thing is where this sport’s going to. Who knows where it’s going to stop. Me and Jimmy Mars were talking about yesterday about when I first started you raced and then you loaded up and you didn’t have to sit there and worry about the shocks or the computers. This day and time, when the race is over it continues on because we’ve got to take the shocks off and put them in the shock dyno and do all this other stuff. It just takes time through the day and night where it used to not happen that way. Back then, you raced and the best man wins and you went on about your business. That ain’t the way it works no more.”
