NASCAR Legend Cale Yarborough Dead at 84
Mar. 15, 2025NASCAR driver Cale Yarborough in 1986.Photo:Robert Alexander/Getty
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Robert Alexander/Getty
NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough has died at age 84, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France confirmed via astatement posted to social mediaon Sunday.
“On behalf of the France family and NASCAR, I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Cale Yarborough,” the statement concluded.
Per theNew York Post, reports of Yarburough’s declining health began emerging in April.
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Yarborough was one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR history and was the first to win three consecutive NASCAR Cup titles in 1976, 1977 and 1978,per ESPN. He held the title until Jimmie Johnson completed a streak of five wins in 2010.
He also won the Daytona 500 four times and, throughout his career, won the Southern 500 four times on his home track in Darlington, South Carolina.
Born William Caleb Yarborough in Sardis, South Carolina, on March 27, 1939, he was the son of a tobacco farmer. Yarborough made his NASCAR debut in 1957 at the Southern 500 and closed his career over three decades later in Atlanta in 1988. He’s currently tied with Johnson for the most career wins in NASCAR history with 83.
NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough.Geoff Burke/Getty
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Geoff Burke/Getty
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Yarborough might be most well-known because of an incident at a race he lost.
Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 that year, but the race went down in history because of the fight.
“I had the fastest car and had it set up to where I could slingshot him on the last lap. That may have been a mistake on my part. I should maybe have gone on and passed him, gone on and won the race handily," Yarborough said later of the race, per theNew York Times. “I was trying to make a show out of it. Unfortunately, it really came out to be a show. It was one of the best things ever happened in NASCAR.”
He reportedly reconciled with the Allisons the next day.
source: people.com
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