Legendary driver and NASCAR Hall of Fame Member Cale Yarborough died December 31, 2023 at the age of 84. No cause or place of death was given.
With a total of 83 career race wins, the three time Cup Series champion is tied with seven time champion Jimmie Johnson for sixth. Nine of those came in the form of four Daytona 500 and five Southern 500 wins. His name adorns the garage at Darlington Raceway where the Southern 500 is run.
Stories of Yarborough’s legend off the track read like something out of a tall tales storybook. Fellow Sardis, South Carolina tell tales of Yarborough surviving a lightning strike, flying and landing an airplane with no training, and wrestling an alligator.
NASCAR Chariman and CEO Jim France spoke on Yarborough saying, “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.”
The oldest of three boys, William Caleb Yarborough was born on March 27, 1939 in Timmonsville, South Carolina to tobacco and cotton farmers. He was driving tractors in the fields by the time he was nine years old.
Ater his father was killed in a plane crash when young Cale was just eleven years old, Cale took over managing the farm. While becoming successful, Yarborough had his sights on something more; saying “somehow, I knew there had to be a better way to make a living than digging around in the dirt and picking tobacco worms off leaves by hand.”
He tried his hand at boxing and football, even earning a scholarship to Clemson; but it was racing at local tracks that drew his interest the most. Racing during the summer, Cale needed just one more race to maintain his status in the standings, but Clemson Coach Howard gave his fullback an ultimatum – football or racing – Yarborough chose racing. Coach Frank Howard kept trying to bring Yarborough back to the football field; telling Cale that he was going to starve to death. In the end, Howard was one of Yarborough’s biggest fans and could frequently be found standing in the pits. After his win at Talladega, Howard was in victory circle and told Yarborough, “boy, I ain’t never been wrong many times in my life, but I want you to know I was wrong this time.“
Yarborough made his Cup Series debut in 1957 at Darlington Raceway in the Southern 500 while still in his teens. At the time the minimum age requirement was 20 and Yarborough fudged his license application, telling officials he was 21 instead of 18.
His first Cup Series win came at Valdosta, Georgia in 1965 as a part time driver for Kenny Myler.
Like many drivers, Yarborough struggled in the beginning to get a competitive ride but Banjo Matthews gave him his big break in the 1960’s.
Over the course of his career, Yarborough has driven for the Wood Brothers, Junior Johnson, and Gene White in IndyCar.
Seven time champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty once said that of all the drivers, Cale Yarborough was the most determined driver; saying “he would be 14 laps behind or 14 laps ahead, but he would pass every car he could see. He never gave up.”
But with all of his wins and racing prowess, Cale Yarborough will forever be linked to the 1979 Daytona 500 – the first time the race was broadcast on network television for the first time – when a last lap duel and crash with Donnie Allison resulted in a fight in the infield after the race that also included Bobby Allison.
In his 40’s Yarborough noted that he needed to spend more time with the family and would cut back on the number of races he would run…but not the winning.
Winning multiple races during his five year stint as a part time driver, Cale Yarborough shared the driving duties with a young driver named Dale Jarrett in 1988. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement from racing. He gave his retirement speech at Charlotte Motor Speedway saying, “I must have changed my mind 40 times on the way up here today, but I know deep down that it’s time to quit, and that’s what I’m going to do. But it’s not like I’m giving up the sport. It would be impossible to just walk away. I’m going to be around, hopefully for a long time as a team owner.”
He spent the next eleven years as a car owner with a number of drivers including John Andretti who gave Yarborough his only win as an owner.
His remaining years were largely spent on a 4,000 acre farm. He also owned restaurants, auto dealerships, textile interests, and dry-cleaning franchises.
In 2008, Yarborough made an appearance at the annual NASCAR Awards banquet to congratulate Jimmie Johnson on his third championship – tying Yarborough – saying, “all records are going to be broken and tied. Tied, really, is all he’s done, so buddy, you’ve got some work to do. But if anybody was to tie my record, I’m glad Jimmie did it. He’s a great man, great race car driver and got a great future ahead of him.” Johnson rose to the challenge becoming just the third driver in NASCAR history to win seven championships.
The Australian rock band AC/DC have a song titled “It’s a Long Way Up if You Want to Rock and Roll”. At his NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Yarborough noted, “racing is kind of like a big, tall ladder. When you begin, you start off on the bottom step of that ladder, and it’s a long, hard climb to the top. But I feel like tonight that I’m finally standing on the top step.”
Among his numerous credits, Yarborough has two acting credits to his name with appearances in “Stroker Ace” and “Speedway”.
Yarborough is survived by his wife of over 60 years Betty Jo, children – Julie, Kelley, and B.J.
Feature photo credit: NASCAR champion w:Cale Yarborough. Photo by Ted Van Pelt