Canadian Cole Pearn making big impact in NASCAR Cup Series

The first person to be featured in this new series is crew chief Cole Pearn.

After deciding to make the move South to work in NASCAR, the 34-year-old Mt. Brydges, Ontario native has his team – Furniture Row Racing with driver Martin Truex Jr. – clicking on all cylinders.

Pearn isn’t the first person who decided to make the trip South and follow his NASCAR dreams, but he’s quickly becoming one of the most well-known people to do it based on his success this season with Truex, Jr.

A racer who had to make a decision

Pearn enjoyed success as a driver winning three national championships in Canada in kart racing and moved up to driving late models in the early 2000’s and competed in the series that is now known as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. He made 27 starts in the series between 2000 and 2003 finishing with three top-10 finishes.

“I was racing and having fun but it reached a point where I had to make a decision on whether to keep trying to race full-time or find a job working in racing full-time,” said Pearn. “So I took a leap of faith and moved south to try and get a job in racing.”

Pearn worked for Toyota after graduating from Waterloo University with an engineering degree and also tried to keep racing. He decided to follow his dream of working in NASCAR and made the move to North Carolina.

The first job he was able to land was at Richard Childress Racing and that laid a foundation for Pearn that would prove beneficial down the road.

Pearn was hired as an engineer and worked at RCR until he went to work the first time for Furniture Row Racing in 2010. He left the team in 2011 but returned in 2012 and was named crew chief for Truex in 2014.

“I learned a lot working at RCR and made a lot of good connections in the sport that wound up helping me down the road to get where I’m at today,” Pearn said. “It was a hard decision to pick up from home and move to North Carolina but it worked out pretty well for me and my family.”

Taking the next step with his family

Pearn started dating his wife while they were in college although they also went to high school together.

“When I decided to give this career a try I talked it over with Carrie and we made a mutual decision to give it a try and she’s been with me the entire way,” Pearn said. “It’s tough to be away from home sometimes, but we moved as a family and enjoy Denver. We didn’t know how it was going to turn out but it’s been good so far.”

Teaming up with Truex

After being named crew chief in late 2014 Pearn and Truex went to work not only on their equipment but also in building a line of communication, something Pearn feels is crucial to success on a race team.

“Martin and I work well together and it’s a credit to Martin because he bought in early on what we wanted to do when I took over as crew chief,” Pearn said. Our personalities fit one another and our communication has been easy since day one.”

It did pay off in 2015 as they scored their first win together at Pocono and finished with 22 top-10 finishes during the season – a career high for Truex in the Cup Series.

Performance kept improving with the duo as they scored four wins in 2016, another career high for Truex, and they already have scored three wins this season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

“We worked hard as a team to learn from our mistakes and improve as a team and I feel we’re seeing those results now with everyone on this team,” Pearn added. “We all have a common goal and are working together to achieve it.”

Proud to represent Canadian racers and fans

While Pearn has now lived in the United States for over a decade, he’s clearly proud to be Canadian and also understands that he has a lot of fans and supporter back home pulling for him in NASCAR.

“Carrie, the kids (son Callun and daughter Freya) and I try to get home every year at Christmas and spend some time with our families and it’s always good to go back home,” he added. “I know there are a lot of NASCAR race fans in Canada and a lot of them keep up with what we’re doing.”

Pearn adds he often thinks of the days he raced in Canada and remembers the passion Canadians have for the sport of auto racing.

“The racing scene in Canada is a tight-knit community and I’m proud to have been a part of that when I raced back home,” Pearn said. “There’s a ton of people who are dedicated and sacrifice a lot to be in the sport and to be just one of several people to represent Canadians in NASCAR means a lot to me.”

Missing the driving days

Although Pearn does play hockey on a recreation league team in the Denver area, he doesn’t race anymore and while he did race stock cars, he doesn’t miss them as much as one might think.

“I really miss racing the go-kart more than anything else,” Pearn said. “I sure don’t miss the long nights working on the race car and having to go out and beg sponsors for money to be able to race. I’ll never miss those days (laughing).”

Canadians inspired Pearn at a young age

“I just remember all the trips and races with my dad Ron and other racers we competed against,” Pearn said. “They all helped me become the person I am today and I’ll always remember those days.”

While Pearn is obviously focused on his team and its success, he does keep up with fellow Canadians also in NASCAR.

“I was proud and happy to see D.J. (Kennington) make the Daytona 500 and I follow people back home and when they race here in NASCAR,” added Pearn. “It’s always good for racing back home when we have Canadians come down and have success in NASCAR. It’s neat to be a part of that and I think we’ll continue to see a lot of Canadians make strong contributions to the sport.”

The trips and watching racers like Earl Ross, the only Canadian to ever win a Cup Series race in NASCAR (Martinsville – 1974) is something Pearn remembers and knows that Ross and others paved the way for people like him to have success today in NASCAR.

“The racing community in Canada is so close and when Earl went south he took a lot of people with him and helped create a lot of interest in the sport in Canada,” Pearn said. “Hopefully other me and other Canadians in NASCAR can do the same thing today.”