Archives For Earl Pearson Jr.

It’s Race Time and CV Products is Visiting Watkins Glen and 4 other Racetracks

CV Products —  August 8, 2013 | Category: Trackside Program | Comment

When the racing is as good as it’s expected to be this weekend in upstate New York and points throughout the Southeast and Mid-West, there’s only thing to do… load up your Trackside Program tractor-trailers and hit the road. ‘Here when you need us (at www.CVProducts.com) and there when you want us,’ takes on a whole new meaning over the next bunch of days when we’ll be supporting race teams and drivers at seven different events.

Here’s where to find CV Products now through Monday, Aug. 11:

CHEEZ-IT 355 at the Glen

cheezit355thumbWhat to watch for: Could this weekend be the one where Jeff Gordon breaks through and wins his first race of the season and his 87th since joining the Cup series in 1994? If history’s any indication, Gordon – who ranked 21st in the Sprint Cup standings just a few months ago, and advanced to ninth place with his runner-up finish last weekend at Pocono Raceway – could very well be celebrating at the end of the day. That’s because he’s the Cup’s most successful road course driver, having won nine times overall, four of them coming on Watkins Glen International’s seven-turn, 2.45-mile course.

  • Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
  • When: Sunday, August 11
  • Racetrack: Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY
  • Watch the race on television: ESPN, 1 p.m. (ET)
  • Find us: In the pit area (note: Pit Pass required for access)

ZIPPO 200

zippo200_thumbWhat to watch for: Look for Sam Hornish Jr. (currently tied for second in the Nationwide Series points standings) to separate some from Regan Smith. That’s because Smith – who has accumulated the least number of points of anyone in the Series’ Top 10 standings over the last seven races, doesn’t have anywhere near the experience and success on road courses that Hornish has. According to NASCAR, in the six trips to road courses with the Nationwide Series, Hornish has finished in the top five in the most recent four races. That’s likely because of his time spent on the road while racing in the Sprint Cup Series and IndyCar Series. A win this weekend at Watkins Glen would only further highlight Hornish’s 11 career road-course starts, including a 2nd place finish in 2007 in the IndyCar Series race.

  • Series: NASCAR Nationwide Series
  • When: Saturday, August 10
  • Racetrack: Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY
  • Watch this race on TV: 2 p.m. (ET) on ABC
  • Find us on site: In the pit are where only a pit pass gets you in

31st Annual Sunoco North/South 100

northsouthlogowebWhat to watch for: Anticipation is brewing for what many people recognize as the dirt racing world’s Super Bowl and World Series all rolled into one. This mega three-day event – where late model racing fans get to enjoy camping, parties, autograph sessions with drivers, and a midway full of food and apparel vendors – also includes the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The series makes its way to Florence Speedway with a tight battle atop the series championship point standings. Two-time and reigning series champion Jimmy Owens has a 20-point lead over Continue reading…

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Meet The Team: Earl Pearson, Jr. of Bobby Labonte Racing

CV Products —  March 8, 2013 | Category: Meet The Team | Comment

Veteran racecar driver Earl “Hurricane” Pearson, Jr. got the 2013 race season off to a good start last month by winning the $10,000 DART Winternationals race at the Lucas Oil Model Dirt Series in Tampa, Fla., thus increasing the bond that central North Carolina has with the racing world.

Earl Pearson, Jr. (image courtesy of Bobby Labonte Racing)

Earl Pearson, Jr. (image courtesy of Bobby Labonte Racing)

That’s because Pearson drives for Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR), which, along with Longhorn Chassis, is headquartered in Trinity, N.C. Both companies are owned by 2000 NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte and his brother the two-time (1984 & 1996) NASCAR Champion Terry Labonte. And both companies are good customers of CV Products — which has its own headquarters just down the road in Thomasville, N.C.

Pearson won his fifth straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Championship in 2008 and his recent victory at East Bay Raceway Park is his first in two years. The Labonte team operates a dirt late-model program with Pearson competing fulltime in the Lucas Oil Dirt Series. And they operate with one goal in mind — building and running a fast, winning racecar.

Following a number of impressive race seasons with late-model dirt vehicles, Bobby Labonte started building his team’s own racecars at his shop in Trinity. One of the first chassis to come out of his new Longhorn shop went to Pearson, who promptly finished an impressive second place at the North/South 100 in Florence, Kentucky. He followed that up with a first-place victory at the 2010 Dirt Track World Championships in West Virginia.

Pearson’s association with racing began in 1989, and four years later he was racing dirt late models and winning big. In fact, he won exactly half of the 22 feature events in 1993 — his first year of late-model competition. He followed that string of wins with his first national touring series victory at the Hav-A-Tampa race in Georgia, winning rookie-of-the-year honors and ranking 10th in the final point standings the following year.

Competing in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2004, Pearson racked up another 11 wins, resulting in his first national championship. He followed that win with Continue reading…

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