CALE YARBOROUGH 1939-2024
Mike Renaut remembers Cale Yarborough, one of NASCAR’s most successful and admired drivers...
Cale Yarborough was one of the stock car racing’s best drivers with victories including four Daytona 500s and five Southern 500 wins. He was also the first to win three consecutive Cup Series championships. William Caleb Yarborough was born on March 27, 1939 in Sardis, South Carolina. His initial love was semi-pro football, which he played for four seasons, and he was also a Golden Gloves boxer. Yarborough entered the Southern 500 by lying about his age, but was caught and disqualified. In 1957 Yarborough made his (legal) debut behind the wheel of a Pontiac, starting in 44th place and finishing 42nd following wheel hub problems. In 1959 his best finish was 27th. He only raced once in 1960 but came in 14th, two years later he was tenth at the Daytona 500 Qualifying Race.
Yarborough regularly switched teams during the Sixties, driving the No. 19 Ford for Herman Beam in 1963 where his best results were a pair of fifth places. For ’64 he moved mid-season to Holman Moody, then drove for several owners during 1965. He achieved his first ever win at Valdosta Speedway behind the wheel of a Ford for Kenny Myler and finished the year tenth overall. Banjo Matthews hired Cale for the 1966 season, but he was soon driving a Ford for the Wood Brothers, and won the 1967 Atlanta 500 and Firecracker 400 for them. In 1969 Ford honoured him with a Cale Yarborough Special Edition Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II model. The Spoiler II boasted a special aerodynamic front end and was a limited-edition homologation car to satisfy NASCAR’s 500-car minimum production rule.
Yarborough continued to drive for the Wood Brothers in 1970, winning a second consecutive Michigan 400 and his first American 500, but at the end of the season Ford withdrew its factory support for NASCAR teams. Cale drove four races in 1971, achieving a top-ten at Daytona in a Plymouth. He also ran in the Indianapolis 500, finishing 16th in a Firestone-sponsored MongooseFord. After focusing on USAC races in 1971 and ’72, Yarborough returned for the 1973 NASCAR season. Piloting the No. 11 Kar-Kare Chevrolet, he competed in every Grand National race for the first time in his career, winning four times.
His best run of achievement came from 1976 onward, when he won nine races, including four in a row and his first career Winston Cup Championship. For 1977 he repeated his nine-win performance, managing a top six position in the last 14 races of the season and earning his second consecutive championship. Yarborough became the first driver in NASCAR history to win the championship and finish every race. In 1978 his team switched to Oldsmobiles and Yarborough became the first in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships. His famous 1979 post-race fistfight with fellow driver Bobby Allison live on television is credited with putting NASCAR into the national spotlight. He even had time to guest star in an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard.
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Although continuing in NASCAR throughout the Eighties, Yarborough also attempted the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans, completing 13 laps – some at over 210mph – before brake failure meant putting his 393cu in in V8 Camaro into a fence near Arnage. One of his more remarkable wins