Yarborough fondly recalls early days of stellar career (cont'd)

Q: You were one of the first stock-car drivers to go to Indianapolis and run full-time in open-wheel cars. Why did you decide to go that route?

Yarborough: Well, when I driving for the Wood Brothers, Ford Motor Company decided they were going to pull out of racing, and I needed something to do and there were no rides available. I had run twice at Indianapolis while I was still racing stock cars. I signed up with Gene White out of Atlanta and drove for him two years on the Indy-car circuit.

I enjoyed driving Indy-cars, but never had real good equipment. My best finish at Indianapolis was 10th. By then, I decided I wanted to come back to NASCAR, and Junior Johnson was looking for a driver and I was looking for a ride, so we hooked up and made a good team.

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Q: With Junior's team, you had a stretch in the mid-'70s that was unparalleled. Why do you think you were so dominant?

Yarborough: Junior had good cars and I was hungry to get back into NASCAR racing. We had a good team and it just worked out well. I drove for Junior for eight years, and I decided my family needed me home a little bit more, so I cut back on my schedule.

Of course, Junior was looking to run the full circuit. There's no telling how many championships we might have won had I stayed there.

Q: Who do you say was your biggest rival?

Yarborough: All of them. I wanted to beat them all. I didn't have one particular rival. Darrell Waltrip and I got into a word rivalry one time, but it didn't amount to nothing. We were having more fun with it than everybody else.

Q: With all of your wins and championships, is there one moment in your career that stands out?

Yarborough: The one race that stands out in my mind was winning the 1968 Southern 500 at Darlington. That was my home track and it was on the old race track, before they worked on it and made it different.

Winning that race was the best race, as far as I'm concerned, that I ever won. And of course, winning my first championship is something I'll never forget, either.

Q: How do you look at your three consecutive championships, and how unique that was in NASCAR history?

Yarborough: I'm proud of it. It lasted for 30 years, so you've got to be proud of it.

Q: What has been the biggest change in the sport since you started in it?

Yarborough: The biggest change is the amount of money that you can make. Of course, the cars, they've made a lot of changes, a lot of things have changed. But I wouldn't take nothing for having been a part of the early days of it.

Q: If you could vote for the inaugural Hall of Fame class, who would you choose?

Yarborough: I haven't even thought of that. I'm sure that a lot of the founders and other people are going in, but I'd look hard at five drivers going in the first time. The rest of them can come later, but five drivers ought to go in the first time.

Q: What do you think will be your legacy in this sport?

Yarborough: I would just like people to say he gave it his best, he ran the last lap just as hard as he ran the first lap, and never gave up.

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• Johnson wasn't that interested in being a driver
• Childress reflects on career that started behind wheel
• Heartbreak, triumph vivid for HOF nominee Moore
• Glen Wood looks back on legendary career