Cale Yarborough was one of the few people in NASCAR who could spot a talent at first sight. Proof of that remains in the Winston Cup Series offer that he made to a 20-year-old Jeff Gordon in 1991, who was then just a Busch Grand National Rookie.
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The offer came after Lake Speed was fired from his role as the driver of the Carl Yarborough Motorsports #66 Pontiac. Yarborough had wanted Gordon to take his place and even held a test session with the youngster at Charlotte.
Cale Yarborough’s eye for talent as a car owner is often overlooked.
When he stepped back from driving, he split his seat with Dale Jarrett.
A few years later, he talked about putting a 20 year old Jeff Gordon in his Cup Series car. pic.twitter.com/PGoRQkiun9
— Seth Sharp (@SethSharp35) December 31, 2023
Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) would be in a starkly different position had this move gone through. But fate ruled in favor of HMS and Gordon ended up rejecting Yarborough’s offer after the test run. Gordon ruled that he had so much more to learn before he moved to the Cup Series and decided that he would pass up the offer based on advice from drivers like Dale Earnhardt and Ken Schrader.
Bill Davis, the team owner who Gordon drove for at the time in the Busch Grand National Series, said in the wake of his decision, “He could have stepped into that car and handled it really well. There was not a need for that. He has got plenty of time.”
Despite the decision that Gordon took, he would end up being a full-time driver in the Cup Series garage of HMS in 1993.
Hendrick Motorsports picked up Jeff Gordon in 1992 with a risky move
During the days when Yarborough had spotted and offered Gordon a ride, Rick Hendrick wasn’t very well aware of his skill behind the wheel. It was only during a Busch Grand National race in March 1992 that Hendrick noticed the youngster and picked him up, though he did not come with any sponsors.
Mentioning back in 2015 that signing Gordon was the biggest chance that he took, Mr. Hendrick said, “You know, it’s really hard when you see somebody that’s young and you know you’re not going to be able to sell them to someone because they don’t have a track record, but I just had that much confidence in Jeff.”
One man’s loss is another’s gain. Had Gordon signed for Cale Yarborough and not Rick Hendrick, NASCAR’s landscape today would have indeed been very different.
