1968: Cale wins with Woods' wizardry

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Never count out the Wood Brothers.

With a sizeable lead and 10 laps to go, it appeared LeeRoy Yarbrough's Mercury would have an easy ride to victory in the tenth annual Daytona 500. Instead, it was the No. 21 Mercury of Cale Yarborough who made up ground and went on to win.

The difference may have been quick pit work by the legendary Woods. First, Glenn Wood was able to repair a faulty transformer.

"When it first happened -- the car started missing -- my heart sunk," Yarborough said. "I just knew we were out of it and wouldn't be able to run.

"They did a nearly impossible job. That thing is bolted underneath the dash and they had to take it out and change it. We only lost a lap and a half I guess, and that's fantastic -- for anybody but the Wood Brothers."

KNOW YOUR NASCAR  The 1960's served as a stage for some of the biggest names in NASCAR history as they evolved from obscure young drivers to champions and then to superstars.  •  1968 Season Recap  •  NASCAR''s 50 Greatest Drivers: Cale Yarborough  •  More NASCAR History    1968 Daytona 500 Top 10  1. Cale Yarborough  2. LeeRoy Yarbrough  3. Bobby Allison  4. Al Unser  5. David Pearson  6. Paul Goldsmith  7. Darel Dieringer  8. Richard Petty  9. Tiny Lund  10. Andy Hampton

A pair of three-car accidents wiped out several contenders, placing Yarborough third with 40 laps to go. He took advantage of a pit stop by Paul Goldsmith to move into second place behind Yarbrough, who gave up the lead to Bobby Allison on lap 168.

Allison then pitted two laps later, setting up the final chase to the checkers when Sam McQuagg blew an engine with 26 laps to go..

Even then, Yarborough's car was on the verge of overheating, forcing him to make an extra pit stop under caution. That left Cale nearly a straightaway behind LeeRoy on the restart.

But using Goldsmith's car as a slingshot, Yarborough slowly began to gain on Yarbrough, finally pulling up to the back bumper on lap 193.

"We were having some heating problems and I wasn't sure the car could take (running flat out)," Yarborough said. "But I didn't realize we were so close to the finish of the race. I happened to glance over at the pits and there was Glenn holding a sign saying six laps to go."

Twice Cale tried to pass LeeRoy on the backstretch only to lose momentum through Turns 3 and 4. But the third time was the charm, as Yarborough made the pass stick on lap 198. It was the same move Cale had used against Dick Hutcherson on the last lap of the previous year's Firecracker 400.

"After I got ahead of him, I stomped on it," Yarborough admitted. "I didn't want anything to happen like last year."

A discouraged LeeRoy could only watch as the No. 21 pulled away for the win.

Bobby Allison finished third, while open-wheel driver Al Unser ended up fourth. David Pearson struggled with an oil leak to round out the top five.

The first of two multi-car crashes took out defending winner Mario Andretti and Buddy Baker, while the second wiped out the chances of Jim Hurtubise and Earl Brooks. Richard Petty's day was ruined by a broken windshield brace, which put him several laps down.

This is one in a series of articles counting down to the 2003 Daytona 500.