And the 1976 Daytona 500 had a number of future NASCAR racers doing just that. If one is lucky, they get to watch the drama play out live. Pearson had three Firecracker 400 victories in the Daytona summer event - but Petty was always his shadow, finishing second in each. Pearson challenged him twice with top-five finishes, but Pearson had not yet won the biggest race in motorsports. In his 13 Daytona 500 races, Petty had five wins. RELATED: More on NASCAR’s 75th anniversary The difference between the two was even more pronounced in the Daytona 500. In a sport where Petty once described second-place as the first loser, a slim advantage is enough to brag about. Pearson held his own, winning 80 of those races and Petty finishing second 30 times. Petty won 93 of these matchups, with Pearson running second 27 times. When the green flag waved over the 18th edition of the “Great American Race,” racing titans Richard Petty and David Pearson had battled one another 420 times at NASCAR’s top level. But what happens when there are a pair of heroes?

Most often, there is a hero and a villain. Great rivalries are built with intense, head-to-head competition.

Another word for running a race