The sports year of 2023 ended on a solemn note in South Carolina Sunday with the news of the passing of legendary NASCAR champion Cale Yarborough at the age of 84. Yarborough was one of only two drivers to win three consecutive championships from 1976-78. He was sixth all-time on the NASCAR victory list with 83.
Yarborough was a Sardis native who was a star football player at Timmonsville High School and also a Golden Gloves boxer. He competed in 560 NASCAR races over 31 seasons. He made his debut in the 1957 Southern 500 at Darlington, just a few miles down the road from his home. His final race was the 1988 Atlanta Journal 500. His first win game in 1965 in Valdosta, GA, and his final win was recorded in the 1985 Miller High Life 500 at Charlotte.
Yarborough won the Daytona 500 four times, and he was a five-time winner of the Southern 500. Darlington Raceway provided this video of Yarborough from his 1968 victory.
Cale Yarborough wins the 1968 Southern 500
NASCAR issued this statement on Yarborough Sunday afternoon:
“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.”
– Jim France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO