NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough has died at age 84, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France confirmed via a statement posted to social media on Sunday.
“Cale Yarborough was one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen,” France’s statement said. 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,” the statement concluded.
Per the New 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.
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Yarborough might be most well-known because of an incident at a race he lost.
In 1979, he was driving in the first Daytona 500 to be televised nationally in its entirety, racing the final lap against Donnie Allison when both men lost control of their cars and spun off the track. Both men walked away uninjured. But Allison’s brother, fellow driver Bobby Allison, who was watching on the sidelines, walked over to Yarborough and started a fistfight.
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 the New 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.
Yarborough is survived by three daughters.
