Cale Yarborough, considered one of NASCAR's all-time greatest drivers and the first to win three consecutive Cup titles, has died.
NASCAR announced that the Hall of Famer and South Carolina native died Sunday. He was 84.
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 for sixth on NASCAR's all-time wins list. But one of Yarborough's most famous moments came in the 1979 Daytona 500. He 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 Yarborough as Richard Petty crossed the finish line first.
Yaborough also made four Indianapolis 500 starts.
According to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his first start was in 1966, driving for Rolla Vollstedt. He got stuck in traffic en route to the track for the first qualifying day. He ended up parking his car in the yard of a local resident and walking to the track, qualifying 24th in the No. 66 Jim Robbins Vollstedt/Ford.
Yarborough’s car was one of 11 collected and eliminated in a first-lap accident that triggered a red-flag delay of nearly 90 minutes, and he was credited with 28th place.
In 1967, Yarborough returned with Vollstedt’s team in 1967 and finished 17th, completing 176 laps. He made his final two Indy 500 starts in 1971 and 1972.
