Cale Yarborough won three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships and set the standard with his grit and tenacity. Relive some of the most memorable highlights of his career.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Cale Yarborough was born not far from the future side
00:06 of Darlington Raceway.
00:08 Like his home track, Yarborough built a legacy of grit,
00:12 determination and excellence.
00:14 Throughout his career,
00:17 Yarborough was renowned for his toughness.
00:20 It was written on his face and in the record books.
00:24 - They didn't know Cummy any tougher than Cale.
00:27 I mean, it didn't make no difference.
00:29 He was hard as that cement floor right there.
00:31 - There was nothing that scared Cale Yarborough.
00:34 He was a braver than Dick Tracy.
00:35 - He's like a John Wayne type.
00:39 He would never back down and look like from a challenge.
00:42 People talking about, hey, he was a farm boy
00:45 that crawled underneath the fence
00:47 to go to his first Darlington race.
00:49 He didn't let anything stand in his way.
00:51 And I think a lot of people admired him for that
00:52 and his tenacity.
00:54 - This is the real tricky part of the race track.
00:57 It's the end of number four.
01:00 - I always told people,
01:02 he drove harder down the straightaway
01:04 than I drove in the corner.
01:05 I mean, that's how hard he drove the race car.
01:07 - I grew up racing in places like Sumpter and Columbia
01:14 and Myrtle Beach, but they were all dirt tracks.
01:18 Wasn't any paved tracks in my part of the country.
01:21 Everything was dirt.
01:22 I think it helped me become the race driver
01:25 that I eventually became.
01:27 - On the local circuit,
01:29 Yarborough quickly made a name for himself
01:31 as a hard charger.
01:33 - How are you gonna run the race?
01:34 - Same way I did at Daytona, all out.
01:37 - That reputation earned him rides
01:39 with renowned Cup Series teams
01:41 like Holman Moody and Banjo Matthews.
01:44 Soon he was onto even greater opportunities.
01:48 - At the end of the season,
01:49 Ford put me with the Wood Brothers.
01:50 Took me from Banjo and put me with the Wood Brothers.
01:55 Wood Brothers cars have always won races.
01:57 And you know, when I got there,
01:59 I figured that I was about at the top.
02:02 - Together, Yarborough and the Wood Brothers won 13 races,
02:07 including the 1968 Daytona 500.
02:10 - The Daytona 500 has always been big,
02:14 but my win in Darlington in 1968,
02:18 I would take it over any Daytona 500
02:22 'cause that's where it all started for me.
02:25 - Cale hit the wall.
02:26 He hit the wall and bounces right between those two cars.
02:30 There is one of the most superb pieces
02:33 of driving we'll ever see.
02:35 - Yarborough was unstoppable in 1968,
02:38 winning six races and only 21 starts.
02:42 - Well, Cale, it must be a happy day for you, huh?
02:44 - Yes, this is the happiest day of my life.
02:50 - After Ford pulled out of NASCAR in 1971,
02:54 Yarborough found work driving Indy cars,
02:57 proving his versatility.
02:58 - When the contract was up, I wanted to come back to NASCAR
03:02 'cause NASCAR was where my heart was.
03:05 I needed a ride, and Junior Johnson needed a driver.
03:10 - It was a partnership for the ages.
03:14 1976 to 1979, Yarborough was nearly unbeatable
03:19 in Junior Johnson's number 11, winning 28 races
03:23 and becoming the first driver in NASCAR history
03:26 to capture three straight cup titles.
03:29 No account of Yarborough's career is complete
03:34 without a chapter on the 1979 Daytona 500.
03:39 - Out of turn two, Donnie Allison in first.
03:41 Where will Cale make his move?
03:42 He comes to the inside.
03:44 Donnie Allison throws the block.
03:46 Cale hits him.
03:47 He slides.
03:48 Donnie Allison slides.
03:49 They hit again.
03:50 They drive in the turn.
03:51 They're hitting the wall.
03:52 They're head on the wall.
03:55 - It cost me a chance of winning another Daytona 500.
03:59 I was hot enough to fight over it, and that's what I did.
04:03 - Bobby Allison is stopped by his brother to help.
04:05 - Bobby came up, so I figured it was gonna be
04:08 a double teaming, so (laughs)
04:10 so we went at it for a little while, you know.
04:13 - And there's a fight between Cale Yarborough
04:16 and Donnie Allison, the tempers overflowing.
04:19 They're angry.
04:20 They know they have lost, and what a bitter defeat.
04:23 - The final act of Yarborough's career
04:30 came in the number 28 Hardee's car.
04:33 He saved some of his best performances for last,
04:36 winning back-to-back Daytona 500s in 1983 and '84.
04:42 In total, Yarborough won the 500 four times,
04:46 the second most of any driver.
04:48 After four decades and 83 wins,
04:53 Yarborough drove his final race in 1988.
04:57 He continued on as a car owner,
04:59 winning only a single race at Daytona in 1997.
05:03 In 2012, Yarborough's career was marked
05:08 with its highest honor, as he was inducted
05:11 into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
05:13 Yarborough was a self-made racing champion
05:17 whose career was a lot like his life,
05:19 tough, determined, and always entertaining.
05:23 He'll be remembered as one of the greatest
05:25 NASCAR drivers of all time.
05:28 Cale Yarborough was 84 years old.
05:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]