NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough dead at 84
Cale Yarborough won his first of four Daytona 500 titles driving Junior Johnsons Holly Farms Chicken Chevrolet in 1977. Yarborough led 137 of 200 laps and averaged 153.218 mph for 500 miles of racing. (Photo by ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Get
NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough has died, officials said Sunday. He was 84.
NASCAR chairman Jim France remembered the Hall of Famer in a statement.
"Cale Yarborough was one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen," France said, via FOX Sports. "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."
Cale Yarborough poses with his car during the NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee Exhibit Unveiling at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on January 22, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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NASCAR put out a post on X.
"The NASCAR family mourns the loss of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Cale Yarborough, who passed away at the age of 84," the organization wrote.
Reports of Yarborough’s declining health first surfaced in April, when John Dodson, the vice president of business alliances and NASCAR at Universal Technical Institute, offered his thoughts and prayers for the Yarborough family. Details around Yarborough’s apparent ailment were scarce.
Yarborough put together 83 wins and 319 top 10 finishes during his NASCAR career. He is one of two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships. He won the Daytona 500 four times and he is sixth on the all-time list of NASCAR Cup Series victories.
He set the modern record for most poles in a season with 14. He finished his career with 69 poles overall.
The South Carolina native was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1999. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012. He drove on the circuit from 1957 to 1988.