Ricky Pearson hopes to restore the thunder to his family’s racing shop, a facility that once produced championships but has been largely quiet in recent years. Located behind his father David Pearson’s house north of Spartanburg, Pearson Racing now is home to the Dreams Come True Motorsports team, a part-time NASCAR Busch series operation started by a pair of Cleveland businessmen. Ricky Pearson, David’s middle son and a long-time NASCAR crew chief, is running the team for owners John McGill and Carl Natale, who jumped into Busch racing on a limited basis last year, running Alabama driver and 1993 series champion Steve Grissom in five races. In 2004, the team plans to run 20 to 24 Busch races to build a foundation toward a scheduled full-season run of 34 races in 2005. Pearson, who has worked for several teams and drivers in recent seasons, said he hopes to restore a winning atmosphere in the shop where his older brother, Larry, won the Busch championship racing for the family-operated team in 1987. It will be a long haul, Pearson acknowledges. Not the least of the hurdles is money. McGill and Natale are trying to link several sponsors to run most of the races next season. Grissom had a best finish of 14th (at Richmond, Va.) in the five races the team ran last season.(Greenville News)(12-11-2003)
