1983: Cale's backup was better

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Cale Yarborough figured his Daytona 500 hopes were gone the second he destroyed his primary car in a 200 mph flip during qualifying.

Instead, Yarborough's rollercoaster week ended on an emotional high when he chose strategy over sheer speed, using a slingshot pass on Buddy Baker to win the 25th annual Daytona 500.

Cale Yarborough Credit: Daytona Racing Archives

Heading into the week, Yarborough had a dominant car. He set a speedway record with a 200.503 mph lap on his first lap of qualifying. But on the second, he lost control of his Monte Carlo, getting airborne and flipping upside down. In addition to wiping out his car, it eliminated his chances at winning the pole.

"I don't believe I've ever felt as low," Yarborough said. "I was so down because I knew we'd had a super car with an excellent chance of winning the race."

"I knew that the only thing that would get me back into a good frame of mind would be to come back and win this thing."

Starting eighth in his Pontiac backup, Yarborough stayed near the front, biding his time until the final lap.

"I wanted to be sitting in second place," Yarborough said. "I knew that when I made my move on Buddy on the last lap, I had to take another car with me in the draft."

KNOW YOUR NASCAR  1983 Season Recap  50 Greatest Drivers: Cale Yarborough  More NASCAR History

That car was Joe Ruttman.

"I knew if I could make Baker and that third car race with each other through Turn 3, I could get away. And that's exactly what happened."

While Ruttman and Baker fought over the spoils, Bill Elliott sneaked past for second.

1983 Daytona 500 Top 10  1. Cale Yarborough  2. Bill Elliott  3. Buddy Baker  4. Joe Ruttman  5. Dick Brooks  6. Terry Labonte  7. Tom Sneva  8. David Pearson  9. Bobby Allison  10. Jody Ridley

"I caught Baker and Ruttman racing among themselves and not noticing where I was, and I just snuck up on the outside," Elliott said.

Yarborough's most nervous moment came on lap 64 when he narrowly avoided Darrell Waltrip's spinning Chevrolet. Waltrip slammed hard into the infield barrier and suffered a mild concussion and a bruised elbow.

"How close was it?" Yarborough asked. "It was so close that at first I didn't think I was going to make it through."

Yarborough's closest challenger might have been Richard Petty, who led 29 laps before being sidelined with a blown engine on lap 48. Dale Earnhardt's day ended in similar fashion 16 laps later.

Mark Martin finished 28th in his Daytona 500 debut.

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