Cale Yarborough, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, passed away today at the age of 84. The Timmonsville, South Carolina native’s career spanned 31 years and 560 starts. Yarborough won 83 of those starts, an impressive 14.8% winning percentage. He also set a then-record with 3 consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships, a record only matched and then broken by 7-time champion Jimmie Johnson.
It seems ironic that the most memorable moment of his career was a heartbreaking loss in what was one of the most iconic finishes in the 1979 Daytona 500, and the fight with the Allison brothers that ensued.
But Daytona also gave him great moments, such as the 1983 Daytona 500, where Yarborough infamously won while making engine noises while driving the No. 28 Hardees car, entertaining the millions of fans who heard him.
Yarborough was hailed as the toughest driver on the blacktop, fighting tooth and nail for every single spot. If a driver upset him, Yarborough let him know. If a competitor respected him, the respect was mutual. Yarborough never made himself out to be a flashy driver, which made sense, considering his humble beginnings. There’s a story that Yarborough and his wife were once on the way to a race in 1962 when a toll booth slowed their journey. Having no money after paying a $10 speeding ticket earlier in their journey and eating hastily made sandwiches along the way, the couple scrambled to find all the money they could in every possible crevice of the car. When they couldn’t come up with the required fare, Yarborough somehow convinced the toll agent to let him pay on the journey back with his race winnings. After an engine failure doomed Yarborough’s night at the track and his financial situation, he borrowed money from the track promoter, paid the toll agent and went on to become one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.
Yarborough won his first race at the Valdosta (GA) Speedway in 1965, and started a streak of 8-straight consecutive top-9 points finishes in 1973 and winning Winston Cup titles in 1976, 1977, and 1978. He retired from full-time competition after 1980 and proceeded to run at least 10 races a season until 1987, garnering 14 wins over 8 years to further cement himself as one of the greats.
Whether it be on or off the racetrack, his tough driving style, never-back-down attitude, and work ethic told you he was a racecar driver without him even having to tell you what he did for a living.
Few men have embodied the spirit of a sport brought up by hard-working men and women who were willing to do whatever it took to put food on the table, outrun the law, and most importantly, win. Cale Yarborough, however, was the epitome of the hard-working attitude embraced by so many across the American South who became stock car racing legends.
Cale has now joined the ranks of Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, Lee Petty, and so many others before him up above, but his legacy here below will be remembered through the ages.
Rest in Peace, Ol’ Hickory.
Cale Yarborough, 1939-2023
