Yarborough only driver to lead Bristol start to finish

In the 1970s, putting Cale Yarborough on a short track with a dominant car was a recipe for a runaway victory. And it was never more apparent than in the 1973 Southeastern 500 at Bristol International Speedway.

Yarborough did what today would be almost unthinkable. He led all 500 laps from the pole -- meaning the entire race was run without a lead change. And he did it under unusual circumstances, since it took two weeks to complete the race because of rain.

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In 1971, Yarborough had ventured off to USAC to run the Indy-car circuit full time. He finished 16th in the final standings, scoring five top-10 finishes, including fifths at Trenton and Michigan. The next season, he ran 10th in the Indianapolis 500, seven laps behind eventual winner Mark Donohue. Late in 1972, Yarborough returned to NASCAR, driving Hoss Ellington's Chevrolet at Charlotte, Rockingham and Texas World Speedway.

That landed him a ride with Junior Johnson's No. 11 the following year. After mechanical issues sidelined him at Riverside and Daytona, Yarborough finished third at Richmond before the series headed for Bristol's half-mile bullring on March 11, 1973.

Yarborough gave a preview of what was to come when he set a track record in qualifying, running a lap of 107.608 mph on what was an asphalt surface back then. Starting from the pole, Yarborough quickly built a large lead over the rest of the 30-car field and began lapping cars with regularity.

The only thing that could stop Yarborough was the weather. At Lap 52, the race was halted because of rain and eventually postponed for the open date two weeks later.

In between, the series went to Rockingham. In an ironic turn of events, David Pearson led all but one of the 492 laps on his way to victory -- with Yarborough finishing second as the only other car on the lead lap.

The entire field reassembled at Bristol for the restart on March 25 -- and Yarborough picked up right when he left off, putting the entire field a lap down early on. Darrell Waltrip was the first car to retire with engine issues. Accidents sidelined Frank Warren and Buddy Baker.

There were seven cautions for 56 laps, but with no one else on the lead lap, Yarborough never worried about restarts -- as if anyone else had anything for the No. 11 Chevy. By the checkered flag, Yarborough had more than a two-lap advantage over second-place Richard Petty, and had lapped 10th-place John Utsman 38 times. In all, 21 of the 30 cars were still running at the finish.

Yarborough

For his efforts, Yarborough took home $8,030.

Just to prove that 1973 was no fluke, Yarborough led 373 of the 400 laps in the 1976 Volunteer 400, beating Petty by two laps. And the next year, Yarborough led all but five of the 500 laps -- lapping second-place Dick Brooks seven times.

Yarborough won nine times at Bristol in a span of eight seasons. But he was equally as dominant at places like Nashville. Yarborough led all 420 laps of the 1978 Music City 420, passing pole-sitter Lennie Pond on the first lap and never looking back. And when the circuit returned to Nashville later in the year, Yarborough led all but nine laps to complete the sweep.

He also won another race with a single lead change -- the 1978 Wilkes 400. Waltrip had led the first 381 laps when Yarborough caught and passed him. Waltrip kept up the chase but never got the lead back, as those two cars were the only ones remaining on the lead lap at the finish.

In Yarborough's 83 career wins, he led more than half of the total laps 39 times. So when he went to the front, he usually stayed there. Twice at Atlanta, Yarborough led more than 300 laps on his way to wins.

Races with no lead changes were more common in NASCAR's early days. There were at least four instances in the 1960s. Jack Smith won one of the 1960 Daytona 500 qualifying races from the pole. Petty went pole-to-pole at Nashville in both 1964 and 1966. And Darel Dieringer made sure nobody else led a lap at North Wilkesboro in 1967.

The last driver to lead every lap of a Cup race was Jeff Burton in the 2000 Dura Lube 300 at New Hampshire. He took the lead from pole-sitter Bobby Labonte and never relinquished it for the rest of the event.