Cale Yarborough 83 Career Wins

Lore & Background

Yarborough's 83 wins tie him with Jimmie Johnson for sixth on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series winner's list. His 14.82% winning percentage is the ninth best of all-time and third among those with 500 or more starts. He won the Daytona 500 four times: 1968 for the Wood Brothers, 1977 for Junior Johnson, and back-to-back in 1983 and 1984 for Ranier–Lundy Racing. He was a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year Award (1977, 1978, 1979).

Reader's Guide

Yarborough won a career-high ten races in 1974. In 1976, he won nine races and his first Winston Cup Championship. In 1977, he won nine races and his second consecutive championship, becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win the championship without a single DNF. He led the points standings throughout the entire 1977 season, though a tie after the first race led NASCAR to list both Yarborough and David Pearson as points leaders.

Did You Know?

• Yarborough was a high school football star and played semi-pro football for four seasons.
• He was a Golden Gloves boxer.
• He made his NASCAR debut at the 1957 Southern 500, starting 44th and finishing 42nd.
• He drove in the Indianapolis 500 in 1966, 1967, 1971, and 1972.