Soaring over the guard rail at Darlington, brawling in the infield at Daytona, Yarborough will go down as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers ever

With three championships, 83 victories in 559 races, 70 pole positions, five triumphs in the Southern 500 and four in the Daytona 500, Cale Yarborough’s stock car racing career shrieks of excellence.

On the day the Timmonsville native takes his place in NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, here are 10 moments to remember.

1. SEPT. 2, 1957:

RACING AT AGE 17

NASCAR rules required drivers to be 21 to participate, but Yarborough made his debut on the big circuit at age 17 — thanks to a bit of chicanery — in the Southern 500 at Darlington. Although he had been booted out of the track after the phony birth certificate he used to get his license was discovered, he hid on the floorboard and took the wheel from Bobby Weatherly to qualify

Officials chased him away again, but the pair changed places again in the pre-race confusion and Yarborough drove 27 laps before the ruse unraveled. He finished 42nd and earned $100.

2. AUG. 9, 1964:

CALE GETS TRYOUT

With a family to raise and racing income meager, Yarborough had decided to quit racing and concentrated on the logging business. Then, Holman-Moody — the Cadillac of racing operations in those days — called and offered what amounted to a tryout.

At Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, Yarborough qualified fifth and had the lead before debris knocked a hole in his radiator. Although finishing 20th, he had shown enough to get the ride and he put his retirement plans on hold — for more than 20 years.

3. JUNE 27, 1965:

HIS FIRST VICTORY

After racing — and winning — on the bullrings in the Pee Dee, Yarborough earned his first victory at stock-car racing’s highest level with a triumph in the 100-mile race over a one-half mile track in Valdosta, Ga.

Driving a 1964 Ford, he prevailed by three laps over a field that included a pair of two-time champions, Buck Baker and Hall-of-Famer Ned Jarrett.

4. SEPT. 6, 1965: CAR TAKES FLIGHT

Instead of Victory Lane, Yarborough finished this Southern 500 in the parking lot. Literally.

In those days, the retaining wall consisted of highway-type guard rails and provided little protection. In challenging Sam McQuagg for the lead, Yarborough’s Ford somehow took flight, soared over the hood of McQuagg’s racer and flew over the wall. The car landed several stories below the high-banked turn in the parking lot and Yarborough unbelievably walked away.

“I felt like an astronaut,” he said afterward.

5. SEPT. 2, 1968:

FIRST SOUTHERN 500 WIN

Yarborough earned what he has always called his favorite victory, outdueling old rival David Pearson to capture the first of his five Southern 500s.

“I wouldn’t trade that one for any of the others,” he often said.

He savored that win for three reasons.

First, Darlington always had been his “home” track and he got hooked on racing after sneaking under the fence to watch the 1951 Southern 500 at age 11. Second, the Southern 500 represented “the” race to him.

Third, officials reworked the track after that race to improve the racing and, Yarborough said, “I wanted to win on the (original) track.”

6. MARCH 7, 1973:

DOMINATING THE FIELD

Yarborough dominated a race like a few drivers ever have, leading every lap of the Southeastern 500 at Bristol Raceway. He lapped the field in the first 100 laps and never let up.

At the end, he owned a two-lap advantage over Richard Petty and a five-lap cushion over third-place finisher Bobby Allison.

7. Oct. 22, 1978:

THIRD SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP

Starting from the pole position, Yarborough clinched his third straight championship by leading 376 of 492 laps in winning the American 500 at Rockingham. The triumph gave him an amazing 28th victories in a stretch of 90 starts.

Car owner Junior Johnson had a simple reason for the domination: “Cale Yarborough is the best driver the sport has ever seen. When you strap Cale into the car, it’s like adding 20 horsepower.”

8. FEB. 18, 1979:

RACING AND BRAWLING

In the first race with televised flag-to-flag coverage, NASCAR hoped for a great Daytona 500. Officials received that — and more. First, a snow storm blanketed the southeast and kept people indoors — and watching television. Then, Donnie Allison and Yarborough headed into the final lap battling for the checkered flag.

Yarborough, trailing, prepared for an aerodynamic “slingshot” move and Allison would be helpless to counter. But he did, swerving to block the maneuver and wrecking both cars, and Richard Petty coasted to an unexpected win. But there’s more. The drivers got out of their cars, then Bobby Allison joined them — and a free-for-all ensued.

Cameras caught all the action, and the wreck and brawl no doubt helped stamp racing into the nation’s sports consciousness.

“Greatest thing that ever happened for NASCAR,” Yarborough says today.

9. MAY 6, 1984:

HIS WILDEST RACE

Yarborough’s “wildest race,” the 1984 Winston 500 at Talladega, featured eight drivers who qualified faster than 200 mph in those pre-restrictor plate days and Cale earned the pole at 202.662. The field averaged more than 193 mph for the first 39 laps and even with four cautions, Yarborough won with an average speed of 172.988.

Yarborough slowed in the late stages to conserve gas, then on the last lap, he pulled off the 75th lead change of the day, charging past Harry Gant on the backstretch and getting to the finish line 0.33 seconds in front.

10. SEPT. 1, 1985:

ALMOST WINNING $1 MILLION

At Darlington again for the Southern 500, this time the spotlight belonged to Bill Elliott, who would be racing for the “Winston Million” — a promotion that would pay $1 million to a driver who won three of NASCAR’s “Big Four” events. The cash represented an unheard-of sum in those days.

Elliott came to Darlington with wins at Daytona and Talladega and late in the race only Cale Yarborough stood in his way. Yarborough muscled his way into the lead on lap 323, then saw a puff of smoke emerge from his racer a lap later. Elliott would be home free, right? Wrong. The smoke represented the loss of power steering, and Yarborough returned to the track.

“Like steering a freight train,” Yarborough said afterward, but he challenged Elliott over the final 20 laps and closing to with a few car lengths only to fall short by six-tenths of a second.