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.
What NASCAR WAS not what it IS today. RIP to one of the great ones...
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.
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
My mom could easily find his car on her 11” b&w tv.
He was one of my favorites. Too bad NOOSECAR went woke.
Well, that sucks.
A great driver and guy from NASCAR’s halcyon years...
Very few of the today’s NOOSECAR drivers would have lasted very long in those days... IMHO...
In auto racing, life is a success when you’ve lived a natural life.
I met him once the late 80’s. I was a Sat night dirt track racer and ask for advise. He told me to use earplugs.