NASCAR Legend, Cale Yarborough has died at the age of 84.
Yarborough passed away this morning at the McLeod Hospice House on Florence, SC surrounded by his loving family.
Yarborough is one of the most successful drivers in the sports’ history with 83 career Cup Series wins, and three Championships.
Yarborough made NASCAR history as the first driver to win three consecutive championships in 1976, 1977, and 1978. During this stretch of championships, Yarborough earned 28 wins and 70 top-five finishes in the 90 race span.
“Cale Yarborough was one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen,” NASCAR chairman Jim France said in a statement. “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.”
One of Yarborough’s most famous moments came in the “race heard around the world.” Yarborough was racing for the lead with Donnie Allison in the 1979 Daytona 500 when the two drivers collided on the backstretch and their cars went sliding through the infield. After climbing from their cars in the infield , the two started tussling as Allison’s brother Bobby had also arrived to the backstretch.
The fight was a signature moment for a NASCAR that was primarily a regional motorsports series at the time. The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first race televised live from start to finish on broadcast television and a snowstorm in the Northeast and Midwest led to many tuning into the race because they were stuck at home.
Yarborough became a car owner ahead of the 1987 season and drove part-time through 1988 before retiring from driving.
Yarborough was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.
–Blake Smith, host of Let’s Talk Racing
