the draft to attempt a slingshot pass against Petty at the end of the back stretch on the last lap, but his car pushed high into the final turn while going around another car. Petty edged under Pearson, and their cars crashed into each other on the frontstretch in the final turns. They both spun out into the infield grass approximately short of the finish line. Benny Parsons who was driving the third place car, was over a lap behind the disabled cars. With Petty unable to restart his car, Pearson slowly drove his Wood Brothers Mercury over the grassy infield past the finish line for his only Daytona 500 victory. He won a series-best ten races in 1976, but finished ninth in season points after competing in only 22 of 30 events. He won his only IROC race at the first race of IROC III in 1975/1976 at Michigan International Speedway and finished fifth in points. Pearson finished 13th in the 1977 NASCAR points, with two wins in 22 (of 30) races. IROC invited him to participate in IROC IV in 1976/77 and he finished ninth in the four race series. He competed in 22 races (of 30) again in 1978, winning four times for a 16th-place finish in the season points. In March, Pearson won his 100th Winston Cup race at Rockingham. Late in the World 600, Pearson was battling for the win against Parsons until Parsons' spin collected both drivers. Darrell Waltrip edged Donnie Allison for the victory. Pearson competed in his final IROC race in June 1978 during IROC V. Pearson began 1979 by winning the pole position at year's first race at Riverside; he finished in second place. 1979 was Pearson's final season racing for the Wood Brothers, with his last race happening at Darlington. After a miscommunication, he left the pits without waiting for the pit crew to place lug nuts on the car and the tires fell off the car when he reached the end of pit lane. Pearson quit the team after the race. Pearson had won 43 races between 1972 and 79 while driving for the Wood Brothers. Later during the season, Rod Osterlund's rookie driver, Dale Earnhardt, suffered a shoulder injury. Osterlund hired Pearson to replace Earnhardt during four races; he collected the pole position at Michigan and won the 1979 Southern 500. For the season, Pearson had competed in