Posted on 01/01/2024 7:52:40 AM PST by airdalecheif
Yarborough is one of the most successful NASCAR drivers ever with 83 Cup Series wins and three championships. Yarborough won those championships in three straight seasons from 1976-78 as he amassed 28 wins and 70 top-five finishes over 90 races in that span.
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Rest In Peace, Cale.
Back when NASCAR was racing and only racing. When real men drove the cars.
Race in peace Cale.
RIP
Cale and Bobby Allison got in a fight during the Daytona 500 in 79 I believe. I think I read later that NASCAR was furious because it was televised nationally and they were trying to shake the redneck image.
That’s my favorite Cale Yarborough moment.
“Back when NASCAR was racing and only racing. When real men drove the cars.”
Back when they would smoke cigarettes and fling the butts out of the ‘window’. LOL
What NASCAR WAS not what it IS today. RIP to one of the great ones...
“ Cale and Bobby Allison got in a fight during the Daytona 500 in 79 I believe. I think I read later that NASCAR was furious because it was televised nationally and they were trying to shake the redneck image.”
I remember that one well, the NASCAR bench clearing brawl. The weather was crappy all over the country that weekend and everyone was indoors. The only thing worth watching on television was NASCAR racing. The brawl was seen by millions of people and ironically, it really boosted NASCAR viewership.
My Cale Yarborough story:
In the 90s he was still racing. Wife and I attended the Daytona 500 regularly back then.
Staying on the beach Saturday after dinner we walked down the beach and just randomly picked a poolside bar to walk up to.
Not noticing at first, we grabbed a couple of cold beverages and sat by the pool.
Behind us was a group of people having some laughs.
After scanning the group, there was Cale Yarborough holding court and drinking Budweiser out of a 12 pack carton.
I pointed him out to my wife and she didn’t believe it was him.
About that time his group broke up a bit so I walked over and asked him politely if he wouldn’t mind meeting my wife.
He said he’d be glad to, walked over and introduced himself and spent a minute chatting with us.
He didn’t have to do all that, much less even get out of his chair but he was genuinely happy to oblige.
As far as I’m concerned, Cale Yarborough is a gentleman, the salt of the earth and God now has another hard-nosed pure racer and a great American.
RIP Mr. Yarborough
We will see you again some day
I think he was driving for Junior Johnson when he won those championships. Makes sense as Johnson always had some of the best equipment.
“ The brawl was seen by millions of people and ironically, it really boosted NASCAR viewership.”
Heck yeah, that’s good television. Probably where Jerry Springer got the idea for his show.
I didn’t know about the weather angle, we were watching at home in Naples.
He helped make NASCAR a national sport at the 1979 Daytona 500 which was the first NASCAR race broadcast live coast to coast, when he and Donnie Allison wrecked each other on the final lap and then proceeded to get out of their cars along with Donnie’s brother Bobby and started fighting, that was classic NASCAR and people loved it.
NASCAR has gone Woke and it’s hard to recognize it now, all the drivers sound the same.
Guys like Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt Sr. must be rolling over in their graves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwh4jqd6HMI
Nascar died the day all the members jumped out fo their car to push the liar and hoaxers Bubba Wallace across the fi ish line to give him a symbolic win AFTER he faslely accused someone of hanging a noose on his garage door and accused anyo e who didnt bekeive him of being jerks or whatever he said! (Actually it died long before that, but that is when I stopped watching the Trash sport)
I watched it from my apartment in Denver. It was about 20 degrees outside and snowing.
nice story! Rest In Peace, Cale. Thanks for the memories.
Back when the championship Cup was the WINSTON Cup!
If it hadn’t been for tobacco and beer NASCAR would be nothing.
Bubba Wallace- The Official Jussie Smollett Hoaxer of NASCAR.
Sorry, typ-o
I meant 80s not 90s...
My interest began to fade when Dale Earnhardt Sr. died, I started to follow Dale Jr. and Tony Stewart, when those two quit driving it was over for me. I will watch the Daytona 500 but that’s about it.
Elmo Langley had a standard car cigarette lighter in his car...(I worked for Elmo in the early ‘70’s)
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