NASCAR Icon Cale Yarborough Dies At 84: His Top Three Moments

Yesterday, December 31st, 2023, NASCAR announced the death of Cale Yarborough, who was 84. Yarborough was widely considered one of the greatest drivers in the history of NASCAR. His accolades range from NASCAR championships and on-the-track drama to nods from the automakers that supported him and his racing team. He raced from 1957 to 1988 and was involved in team ownership until 1997. After racing, he spent his time farming and owning several businesses.

NASCAR's CEO and Chairman Jim France said, "Cale Yarborough was one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen. His combination of talent, grit, and determination separated Cale from his peers, both on the track and in the record book. He was respected and admired by competitors and fans alike and was as comfortable behind the wheel of a tractor as he was behind the wheel of a stock car. On behalf of the France family and NASCAR, I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Cale Yarborough."

With a career as long and storied as Yarborough's, it's worth looking at some of Cale Yarborough's accomplishments over the decades.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, NASCAR essentially dictated what muscle cars you would see on offer from Ford, Chevy, and Chrysler. In order to race a particular model, automakers had to offer it for sale to the public, hence the now outdated term "stock" car. Cars built specifically for the circuit and offered for sale at your local dealer were called "homologation specials." Notably wild cars like the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird were such models. 

In commemoration of Yarborough's win at the 1968 Daytona 500, Ford's Mercury division made the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II Cale Yarborough Edition. It was clad in special paint, given some go-fast parts like power steering and disc brakes (this was the late 1960s, after all), and had a 351 cubic inch "Windsor" V8 as standard. Optionally, it could be equipped with a 428 cubic inch "Cobra Jet" V8 for some extra muscle. 

It's quite the feat to win the Nascar Cup Series Championship even once. The list of drivers who have won it all includes household names like Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Yarborough, who won his first championship not only in 1976 but also in 1977 and 1978. According to NASCAR official standings, that streak of wins stood for nearly three decades until Jimmie Johnson won five championships in a row in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Yarborough was not only the first-ever driver to win three championships in a row in modern NASCAR history. He did it in an era when other motorsport giants like Richard Petty were racing. It was that series of wins that not only cemented Cale Yarborough as one of the greatest drivers ever to sit behind the wheel of a stock car but also earned him an induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.

The Daytona 500 is one of the most celebrated races in motorsports, even outside of NASCAR. Cale Yarborough brought home his first Daytona 500 win in 1968. He then proceeded to win it again in 1977, then back to back in 1983 and 1984. That's a historic accomplishment for any driver (he was the second racer ever to do it), much less someone who had been racing since the 1950s. 

Yarborough could have potentially won it in 1979. Instead, he made NASCAR history another way. During the last lap of the 1979 Daytona 500 (coincidentally the first nationally televised 500), Yarborough and Donnie Allison were duking it out for first place, sharing no small number of taps and shoves. Donnie and Cale wrecked, and Richard Petty, a leisurely 17 full seconds behind, won the race. 

But it wasn't over. Bobby Allison, Donnie's brother who had wrecked earlier in the race, went to check on the wreck with Donnie and Cale, and a full-on fistfight erupted between Yarborough and the Allison Brothers. According to NBC, the combination of Richard Petty's unlikely win and three respected drivers punching each other and throwing helmets after the race helped make NASCAR popular in the rest of the country where it wasn't traditionally televised.