YARBOROUGH, CALE

born March 27, 1939, Timmonsville, S.C., U.S. byname of William Caleb Yarborough U.S. stock-car racing driver who was the first to win the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) championship three consecutive years. Yarborough began driving stock cars in the early 1960s, and in 1968 he won four NASCAR races, including the Daytona 500-mile race and the Atlanta 500, the former of which he also won in 1977 and 1983 and the latter of which he also won in 1967, 1974, and 1981. After unsuccessfully driving United States Automobile Club (USAC) championship cars (197172), he won his first NASCAR championship in 1976, repeating in 1977 and 1978. In 1977 he was the first NASCAR driver to start and finish 30 of 30 races.