Cale Yarborough, a NASCAR great, dies at 84

July 10, 2024

Cale Yarborough, considered one of NASCAR’s all-time greatest drivers and the first to win three consecutive Cup titles, died Dec. 31 at 84.

NASCAR announced the death of the Hall of Famer and South Carolina native in a statement. He had a rare genetic disorder, his family told the State newspaper of Columbia, S.C.

Known for his fierce toughness and grit, Mr. Yarborough won the Daytona 500 four times and the Southern 500 at his home track of Darlington Raceway five times. His 83 Cup Series victories are tied with Jimmie Johnson for sixth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list, and Mr. Yarborough ranks fourth with 69 pole positions.

One of his most memorable moments came in the 1979 Daytona 500, the first to be televised live flag to flag across the country.

Mr. Yarborough, a Golden Gloves boxer who also earned a football scholarship to Clemson University, crashed while racing with Donnie Allison on the final lap for the win. The two drivers got out of their wrecked cars to fight, Allison’s brother, Bobby, pulled over to join the scrap, and it was two Allison brothers versus Mr. Yarborough as Richard Petty crossed the finish line first.

It was a breakthrough moment for NASCAR, which, because of a snowstorm on the East Coast, was being shown on live television to its largest audience ever.

Mr. Yarborough quit full-time racing after winning six races in 1980 and finishing second in the Cup standings after winning three straight crowns from 1976-78.

After retirement, he opened and operated a used car dealership in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina and served on the Florence County Council.

William Caleb Yarborough, son of a tobacco farmer, was born in Sardis, S.C., on March 27, 1939. He was an adolescent when his father, who also owned a store and other businesses, died in a private plane crash. Within a few years, he began attending auto races and lied about his age to participate.

At Clemson, he missed football practices to continue stock-car racing — leading to a scolding from coach Frank Howard.

“He said: ‘If you go back, pack your clothes, don’t come back. You either go and race or play football,’” Mr. Yarborough recalled to the New York Times. “So I packed my clothes and left. Of course, he kept calling. I told him, I said: ‘You told me to pack my clothes, and that’s what I did. I’m going to make racing my career.’ He says, ‘Son, you’ll starve to death.’”

Survivors include his wife, the former Betty Jo Thigpen, and three daughters.

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