Darlington Raceway celebrates late Cale Yarborough ahead of 75th Southern 500

DARLINGTON, S.C. (WBTW) — Darlington International Raceway celebrate the late NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Cale Yarborough on Tuesday ahead of this weekend’s 75th annual Cook Out Southern 500.

Julie Yarborough, Cale’s daughter, said the celebration was what her father would have wanted and that the Yarborough family can finally put Cale to rest.

A Timmonsville native, Cale had 83 career wins, including five at the Southern 500 and three consecutive NASCAR Cup Series championships from 1976 to 1978.

Former NASCAR Cup Series winning crew chief and TV analyst Jeff Hammond was a member of Yarborough’s winning pit crew during the 1978 season.

“People like Cale Yarborough, they knew the personality changes,” Hammond said. “They understood what they had to change in their driving style to be able to attack this racetrack. Because you hear it so many times, every driver that’s ever won here. You’ve got to race the racetrack. You’ve got to respect the racetrack.”

The 75th Cook Out Southern 500 is set for Sunday. Count on News13 for live coverage of the event the entire weekend.

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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work here .

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