Yarborough's climb to Hall complete

Cale Yarborough’s rise to the top of NASCAR wasn’t easy.

It included a lot of sweat and tears from his days working on his tobacco farm to racing dirt tracks throughout the state of South Carolina.

But all that hard worked paid off and Yarborough was recognized for his efforts Friday with his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“It was one of the best days of my life,” Yarborough said. “You know racing is kind of like a big, tall ladder. When you begin, you start off on the bottom step and it’s a long, hard climb to the top. But I feel like tonight I’m finally standing on the top step.”

Yarborough was one of five in the third class to be enshrined into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Charlotte Convention Center. The rest included Darrell Waltrip, car owner Glen Wood, crew chief Dale Inman and modified driver Richie Evans.

Yarborough’s speech lasted 15 minutes and included thank yous to his wife, mom, children grandchildren, car owners and friends. He also told the story he received a call from a high-priced clothing store a few weeks ago about his wife, Betty Jo’s, outfit for the ceremony.

That made him reflect on the tough times when he and his wife couldn’t afford anything like that. Yarborough’s first job earned him $1.25 per hour sweeping the floors at Holman-Moody. Because money was tight, the Yarboroughs watched every penny they spent.

Yarborough talked of a time he, Betty Joe and his daughter, Julie, went grocery shopping. They bought enough groceries for that week and were about to head to check out when they saw black-eyed peas for 10 cents apiece.

So, the Yarboroughs put their groceries back on the shelves and bought a whole pallet of black-eyed peas.

“We had black-eyed peas for breakfast. We had black-eyed peas for dinner. We had black-eyed peas for supper, a long time,” Yarborough said.

“Well, honey,” Yarborough went on, now addressing his wife, “I’m glad you went and bought that outfit because you look good in it, and I’m glad we could afford it. But needless to say, this coming week, we’re going to be looking for another black-eyed pea sale.”

The hard times didn’t last forever as Yarborough made his ascent toward the top of NASCAR. He went on to win 83 races and three straight championships for Junior Johnson from 1976-78.

Yarborough left Johnson’s team after the 1980 season to spend more time with his family but admitted he left a lot of wins and possible championships on the table.

“Richard Petty, you don’t know how many championships we might have won. You might have not been in the picture,” Yarborough said with a smile. “We had a good ride.”

Yarborough had the reputation as one of the sports toughest drivers and best closers near the end of a race. He loved using his “sling shot” move to make passes late in races.

“The only place you find Cale in the back is in the phone book,” said Fox broadcaster Mike Joy, who emceed the ceremonies.

Former broadcaster Ken Squier, who introduced Yarborough, echoed those statements and said Yarborough “was and always will be the real deal.”

Waltrip succeeded Yarborough with Junior Johnson but did things in a different way.

If Yarborough was one of NASCAR’s toughest drivers, Waltrip might have been the sports most flamboyant. Yarborough nicknamed Waltrip “Jaws” following the 1977 Southern 500 in which the two were involved in a wreck caused by Waltrip.

But Waltrip’s flamboyant style didn’t go over well with everyone.

“I didn’t like him at first. … He would never shut up,” said Jeff Hammond, a former crew member of Waltrip’s and broadcast partner with him at Fox.

Waltrip disputed the claims he talked a lot.

“It wasn’t that I talked that much, it was the other guys didn’t talk enough,” he joked during his speech.

But Waltrip got the job done on the track and won 84 races and three championships. After racing, he has become a successful broadcaster at Fox and his “Boogity, Boogity” phrase has become a staple of NASCAR broadcasts.

“I am a blessed man,” Waltrip said. “I have had two great careers, one as a driver and one in broadcasting. I can’t do much more than that.”

Wood won four races as a driver and 98 as an owner. Seventy-five drivers drove for the Wood Brothers, including Yarborough, Pearson and 18 others that were named NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers.

Inman is the first crew chief to be enshrined and won more championships than any other crew chief in NASCAR history. He won seven with his cousin Richard Petty and his final one with Terry Labonte in 1984.

Evans was the best modified driver in racing history, winning 465 races and nine championships. He was killed in 1986 during a crash in practice at Martinsville.

Evans’ wife, Linda, spoke in her husband’s honor.

“I’d like to thank the Hall of Fame voting panel for stepping outside the box and making Rich the first driver not to have raced in NASCAR’s top series full-time,” she said. “You have now given hope to thousands of NASCAR competitors throughout the country to maybe someday reach their dream.”