page_title: Cale Yarborough
section_title: Ownership
hierarchical_section_title: Cale Yarborough / Ownership
caption_attribution_description: NASCAR driver w:John Andretti at Pocono in 1997.
context_page_description: William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough, is an American farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships. He was the second NASCAR driver to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
  His 83 wins tie him with Jimmie Johnson for sixth on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series winner's list. His 14.82% winning percentage is the ninth best of all-time and third among those with 500 or more starts. Yarborough won the Daytona 500 four times; his first win coming in 1968 for the Wood Brothers, the second in 1977 for Junior Johnson, and back-to-back wins in 1983 and 1984 for Ranier-Lundy Racing. Yarborough is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year Award.
context_section_description: In 1986 Yarborough purchased Jack Beebe's Race Hill Farm team, renaming the team Cale Yarborough Motorsports and running a part-time schedule in 1987 and 1988. During the 1988 season, Yarborough split time in the No. 29 car with Dale Jarrett, who took over full-time in 1989 following Yarborough's retirement.
  For 1990, Jarrett was replaced by Dick Trickle in the renumbered No. 66 car, with backing from Phillips 66. The team won the pole at Dover International Speedway, finishing 24th in points. Multiple drivers raced for Yarborough in 1991, including Trickle, Lake Speed, Dorsey Schroeder, Chuck Bown, and Randy LaJoie. Chad Little, Bobby Hillin, Jr, and Jimmy Hensley would all drive the No. 66 in 1992, with Hensley winning Rookie of the Year honors. 
  In 1993, the team switched to the No. 98 with Bojangles' sponsorship and Derrike Cope behind the wheel, finishing 26th in points. Cope began 1994 with sponsorship from Fingerhut, but was replaced by Jeremy Mayfield after struggling.
  RCA became the team's new primary sponsor in 1995, and Mayfield finished 31st in points despite missing four races. In 1996, Mayfield had two top-five finishes and won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway. Towards the end of the season, Mayfield left to drive for Michael Kranefuss, whose previous driver John Andretti moved to the 98, finishing fifth at Martinsville Speedway. Andretti won the team's second pole at Talladega in 1997, and at the 1997 Pepsi 400, he led 113 laps and won Yarborough's only race as a car owner. 
  Despite the win and a 23rd-place points finish, RCA left the sport and Andretti signed with Petty Enterprises. Yarborough signed Greg Sacks to drive his Thorn Apple Valley Ford in 1998, but Sacks suffered a neck injury at Texas Motor Speedway and was unable to race for the rest of the year. Rich Bickle took his place, and had a fourth-place finish at Martinsville. After the season Bickle resigned to drive for Tyler Jet Motorsports and Thorn Apple departed due to financial problems within the organization. 
  Due to the lack of financing, Yarborough originally closed his team, but soon reopened and hired Rick Mast as the driver, with car dealer Wayne Burdett joining as a co-owner. Despite having no primary sponsor, Yarborough and his team ran the full schedule, picking up short-term deals with Sonic Drive-In and Hobas Pipe. Soon after, Burdette left the team and the team signed Universal Studios/Woody Woodpecker as its primary sponsor. Mast posted two top-tens and did not have a DNF all season, the second driver since Yarborough to accomplish that feat. Despite rumors of a second team with Mike Ciochetti driving, Mast and Universal both departed following the season. In January 2000, Yarborough closed the team until a buyer could be found. He sold the team in the summer of 2000 to Chip MacPherson, and the team soon disappeared from the Cup circuit.
caption: John Andretti driving the #98 Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford in 1997
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