Norman “Moose” Pearah helped bring major league NHRA drag racing to Louisiana, doing it with a style that was outsized, unconventional and rarely subtle. He died at 74, leaving behind a legacy tied to the rise of Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock racing in Baton Rouge and LaPlace.
“They don’t make them like the Moose anymore,” said one longtime insider who worked alongside him during the Cajun Nationals years.
Former NHRA Press & Publicity Director Steve Earwood first met Pearah in Gainesville over breakfast at a Holiday Inn and said the connection was immediate. “Norman Pearah. Met him in Gainesville at the Holiday Inn, had breakfast with him and his wife at the time. Liked him immediately. He liked me immediately.”…