pit stops. Pearson and Petty were the only two cars on the lead lap by a restart on the 311th lap (of 400). Petty made up six seconds on Pearson in 20 laps before Petty had to retire with a blown engine. Pearson held a three lap lead over Fireball Roberts and was leading late in the race until he ran over some debris on the backstretch and blew a tire with only two laps remaining. Pearson drove the car around the track slowly for the final lap at approximately to take the victory. He started in 19 races during the 1961 season and he had three wins to finish thirteenth in season points, winning his first NASCAR race in a Fox-prepared car at Concord Speedway. Later in the season, he won the Firecracker 250 at Daytona and the Dixie 400 at Atlanta. Pearson started in only 12 of 53 events in 1962 yet managed to finish tenth in season points. Pearson began the season racing for Fox until Fox retired; he started for Petty Enterprises, Cotton Owens, and Bud Moore that season. He had seven top ten finishes and no wins. During 41 starts in 55 races, Pearson finished the 1963 season sixth in points for Cotton Owens. He held two pole positions and had no wins. In 1964, he had eight wins at Richmond, Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Occoneechee Speedway, Boyd Speedway, Lincoln Speedway, Rambi Raceway, Columbia Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway. Pearson finished third in the championship, which was won by Petty for the first time. He qualified on the pole position for 12 events. NASCAR banned the Mopar Hemi engine in 1965, so Petty and Pearson boycotted many races rather than compete with a non-competitive engine against Ford and Mercury drivers. Both competed in drag racing. Pearson drove a Dodge Dart station wagon nicknamed the "Cotton Picker" for Owens. 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. Pearson won two of the final 21 races (Columbia and Richmond) to finish 40th in the season points. In his second full-time season, Pearson won his first of three NASCAR championships in 1966. He won 15 of 49 events, which was the second most in NASCAR history at that time. Early in the season, Pearson won at Hickory, Columbia, Greenville-Pickens,