Cole R. Pearn (born October 13, 1982) is a Canadian former
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
crew chief and
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
driver. He competed in
CASCAR
The Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR) was an auto racing sanctioning body for amateur and professional stock car racing in Canada. The company was founded in 1981 and was headquartered in Delaware, Ontario. In 2006, NASCAR p ...
(now
Pinty's Series
The NASCAR Pinty's Series (french: Série NASCAR Pinty's), commonly abbreviated as NPS, is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981.
History
In September 2006 NASCAR ...
) for three seasons from 2001 to 2003. He also was a 3 time Canadian Go-Kart Champion, Delaware Speedway Track Champion and winner of the Great Canadian 300 in 2006. He last served as the crew chief for
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
's No. 19
Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...
team in the
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Pearn led Truex to the
Cup championship in 2017.
Pearn was considered NASCAR's best active crew chief during his career, having turned
Furniture Row Racing
Furniture Row Racing (FRR) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2018. The team was owned and sponsored by Furniture Row, a U.S. furniture store chain, and was based in Furniture R ...
from a backmarker to a championship contender. Pearn was the crew chief responsible for 17 of the team's 18 race wins.
Career
Pearn, a three-time national
kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...
champion in Canada, competed in
late model
A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.)
The precise definition ...
s.
In 2000, Pearn debuted in the
CASCAR Super Series
The CASCAR Super Series was Canada's premier stock car touring division. It was sanctioned by CASCAR. The series ended after the 2006 season after NASCAR purchased CASCAR, and NASCAR used it as the basis for the NASCAR Pinty's Series.
General Ti ...
at
Delaware Speedway
Delaware Speedway is a half-mile paved race track that is one of the oldest continuously operating tracks in Canada. It is located a few minutes west of London, Ontario northeast of Delaware, Ontario. It hosts stock car racing every Friday night ...
, finishing 18th. Pearn competed full-time in 2002 and 2003, driving the No. 24
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
and recording a best finish of sixth twice: in 2002 at Delaware and 2003 at Race City Speedway.
After graduating from college, Pearn worked for
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, and later moved to
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. He joined
Richard Childress Racing in 2007, working with
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champion, ...
's No. 29 crew as an engineer.
In 2010, he joined
Furniture Row Racing
Furniture Row Racing (FRR) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2018. The team was owned and sponsored by Furniture Row, a U.S. furniture store chain, and was based in Furniture R ...
as a team engineer, though he left for
JTG Daugherty Racing
JTG Daugherty Racing (formerly ST Motorsports and JTG Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is owned by former advertising executive Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi, ...
in 2011. Pearn returned to FRR during the 2012 season, becoming the team's lead race engineer. On December 3, 2014, Pearn was promoted to crew chief of the No. 78, replacing
Todd Berrier
Todd Berrier (born May 29, 1970) is a former crew chief for Furniture Row Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Previously, he was a crew chief at Richard Childress Racing, most notably with Kevin Harvick. He joined RCR in 1997 as crew chief i ...
,
who had departed the team to join
Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...
,
and Pearn became the first regular Canadian crew chief in Cup Series history.
In 2015, Pearn and driver
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...
won the
Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
, and Pearn became the first Canadian crew chief to win a Cup race. In 2016, Pearn was suspended for the
Kobalt 400
The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the first of two races at Las Vegas with the other one being the South Point 400 in the pla ...
after failing technical inspection at the
Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500
The Ambetter Health 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. William Byron is the defending race winner.
This race was originally Atlanta's second race of the season and was run as a late-se ...
; the team had also been penalized at the
Daytona 500 the week before for roof flap problems. During the 2017 season, Pearn and Truex won eight races en route to the series championship. The following year, Pearn and Truex won 4 races during the year at Fontana, Pocono, Sonoma, and Kentucky. Rumors throughout the year swirled the Furniture Row team after sponsor 5 hour Energy left the team and eventually the team announced they were shutting down. Truex and Pearn made it to the final four again in 2018 and finished 2nd in the final standings in 2018.
In 2019, Pearn and Truex moved to
Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...
's No. 19 team following Furniture Row Racing's shutdown after the 2018 season.
On December 9, 2019 Pearn announced that parted ways with JGR to pursue opportunities outside of NASCAR. He remained involved in the sport as an analyst for NASCAR.com.
In August 2020, Pearn joined
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
team
Ed Carpenter Racing as the lead engineer for
Conor Daly
Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American professional racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Ca ...
in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
.
Personal life
Pearn's father Ron was a stock car driver at Checker Flag Raceway in
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...
.
In 2006, he graduated from the
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...
with a mechanical engineering degree.
Pearn is an
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
fan and a supporter of the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
; he also plays
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
in a Denver-based rec league.
After leaving the crew chief ranks, Pearn moved to
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
.
He and his wife Carrie operate the lodging chain Golden Alpine Holidays.
Motorsports career results
CASCAR
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
CASCAR Super Series
See also
*
List of University of Waterloo people
The University of Waterloo, located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is a comprehensive public university that was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles. It has grown into an institution of more than 42,000 students, faculty, and ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearn, Cole
1982 births
Living people
People from Strathroy-Caradoc
NASCAR crew chiefs
NASCAR drivers
University of Waterloo alumni