Cale Yarborough, who made four Indianapolis 500 starts during his legendary, championship-winning NASCAR career, died Dec. 31 in his native South Carolina. Yarborough was one of the greatest stock car drivers in history, winning three straight Cup Series championships from 1976-78. Yarborough made his first Indianapolis 500 start in 1966, driving for Rolla Vollstedt. Yarborough was caught off guard by the throngs who attended qualifying days in May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and got stuck in traffic en route to the track for the first qualifying day. Yarborough returned with Vollstedt’s team in 1967 and finished 17th, completing 176 laps. In 1971, Yarborough raced the entire USAC Championship Trail with White’s team. Yarborough retired as a driver after the 1988 NASCAR Cup Series season and then focused on team ownership and other businesses. His Cale Yarborough Motorsports raced in the Cup Series through the 1999 season, with John Andretti delivering the team its sole victory in the 1997 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. He was selected as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and one of its 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. Yarborough was an excellent athlete before focusing on racing in his late teens.

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