![Cale Yarborough talks to a reporter [Screenshot/YouTube/NASCAR]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-31-at-1.54.31%e2%80%afPM-e1704048910246.png "Cale Yarborough talks to a reporter [Screenshot/YouTube/NASCAR]")
Cale Yarborough, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, passed away Sunday at age 84, according to Reuters.
Yarborough achieved 83 victories throughout his 31-year racing career, including three consecutive Cup Series titles in 1976, 1977 and 1978, as well as four Daytona 500 wins in 1968, 1977, 1983 and 1984, the outlet reported.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough dies at age of 84 https://t.co/oi0tAwja2T pic.twitter.com/COQCTfT36b
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 31, 2023
In April, NASCAR Vice President John Dodson reportedly told fans that Yarborough “was not doing well” and asked them to keep the South Carolina native in their prayers.
During the final lap of the 1979 Daytona 500, Yarborough famously engaged in a fistfight with title contender Donnie Allison after their cars crashed into each other.
“I think it opened the world’s eyes to stock car racing,” Yarborough said years later. “I mean, they said, ‘These guys are for real. They’ll get out and duke it out if they have to.'”
“The only regret I have is that it wasn’t a better fight,” Yarborough added, per Reuters. (RELATED: ‘I’m Coming Back’: NASCAR Driver Vows Return After Flipping Car 10 Times)
In a statement today, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France described Yarborough as “one of the toughest competitors NASCAR has ever seen,” adding that “this combination of talent, grit and determination separated Cale from his peers, both on the track and in the record book.”
France continued, “[Yarborough] 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.”