Terry Labonte recalls the infamous fight between Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers on his Daytona 500 debut

A young Terry Labonte was making his Daytona 500 debut that day and was on the sidelines watching the race after a DNF due to a car malfunction. He recalled the chaos that involved Bobby Alison, who was also racing in the event, getting involved to help his brother, and how it became a two vs one fight between the brothers and Yarborough.

I was standing in the back of a NASCAR safety truck with a guy, and I said, ‘Well, what happened?’ And he had his radio on. And he said, ‘Well, they’re fighting down there.’ And he said, ‘It’s Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough.’ I said, ‘No, no, that was Donnie Allison.’ He said, ‘No, they said it was Bobby Allison.’ And sure enough, it was Bobby Allison. He stopped to help Donnie in the fight down there. So that was my first Daytona 500, and it was quite one to remember. Labonte told Auto Racing Digest.

The NASCAR nation is mourning the death of Cale Yarborough

When Terry Labonte gave this interview at the start of December, he might have had zero idea that Cale Yarborough would breathe for the last time at the end of the month. The three-time champion, who was under medical treatment at Florance, died on Sunday morning.

The entire NASCAR community is mourning the death of the champion, who played a significant role in putting NASCAR on the map. His fight with the Allison brothers played a massive role in it, as the incident became one of the biggest headlines in the US.

It was the first NASCAR experience for many, and over the years, with his personality and grit, as highlighted by Dale Earnhardt Jr., he attracted many fans to the sport. Yarborough was an inspiration for many, such as Jimmie Johnson, who saw him as a childhood hero.

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