7/10/2018
Midwest Legends Dirt Series
Driver Spotlight: Justin Pearson
When you’re looking to get into a form of racing, can there be a better gauge than a test drive? Someone loans you their car, you drive it on the track, usually in a practice setting and then decide if it’s a right fit for you.
Wisconsin Dirt Legend driver, Justin Pearson did just that. Sort of. He had been a good kart racer, running the little bullring inside the big track at Beaver Dam Raceway in Wisconsin. There came a point where his class was dwindling and it was no fun to run against one other kart. His dad, Brian decided to give his son a try in a Legend. Warren Ropp, accommodated the pair with an “arrive and drive” test session. The test went well. So well, that Justin was invited to actually run that night in a race at BDR. He was 16 years old at the time.
Justin says it was between Street Stocks and Legends. He was going to race one and how the Legend test went would give him a good idea of which direction his family would go.
He strapped in for the first heat race of his life. The green flew, Justin gassed it, hoping to keep up with the field of veteran drivers (at least compared to him). The first corner came and he promptly stuck the car into the wall, flipping several times. He was uninjured, but the car was destroyed. Then and there the decision was made. Justin was going to be a Legend driver.
Justin and his dad had to run home and get a trailer to retrieve the wrecked car, as there were no plans on buying one that night. “You can tell Mom the story,” Brian told Justin as they pulled in the driveway.
The chassis was destroyed but they salvaged a bunch of parts and got back on the track the next week. “Stay in the back and get laps,” were Dad’s orders, “and if you destroy it, we’re done.” Justin listened and worked his way into the pack slowly over the coming weeks.
Fast forward a couple of years and 2016 found Justin as the INEX Dirt Semi-Pro National Champion, with a ton of local dirt wins over the years to boot.
Justin is a 2015 graduate of Horicon HS where he played football and basketball. He is a junior at UW-Platteville studying mechanical engineering. But is currently on an internship with Alliance Laundry Systems in Ripon, where he helps in the design of washing machines for home use.
He is engaged to Katie Bolda, with an August, 2018 wedding date.
Article Credit: Bill Blumer Jr
Submitted By: Ryan Mech