The night Jimmie Johnson thought Cale Yarborough might slug him -- only to wind up hugging him

The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship awards banquet was one of the most memorable of Johnson's seven Cup titles. Here's why:

Jimmie Johnson is one of the easiest-going individuals in racing. Little gets under his skin. At the same time, Johnson has never allowed himself to be intimidated by any of his fellow competitors.

But there was one night back in 2008 when JJ was shaking in his boots, intimidated as hell – perhaps the most intimidated he’s been in his career. I was there and witnessed it all. This is that story.

It was December 5, 2008 and Jimmie Johnson was preparing to be honored for winning his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, and also the final time for nearly 30 years that NASCAR would honor its season champion at New York City’s famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

It was a well-deserved honor for Johnson, indeed. But it was also the third of a record five straight years that Johnson would be crowned NASCAR’s Numero Uno, and the third time of a total of seven crowns he would be awarded in his Cup career.

Johnson had heard rumors that Cale Yarborough might be coming to the awards banquet, and that Yarborough – arguably the fiercest, and most fiery old cuss of a driver that NASCAR has ever seen – would be P.O.’d at Johnson for tying his record of three straight titles, set from 1976 through 1978.

Correction, make that HIS RECORD, CALE’S RECORD, Yarborough’s biggest claim to fame and a mark that many thought would live forever in history solely with Cale’s name attached to it, much like Richard Petty’s 200 career Cup victories.

I briefly saw Johnson before the awards ceremony at a pre-awards get-together and he was noticeably askew – at least from JJ’s normal relaxed tone and manner. While he met all of his guests with the trademark Jimmie smile and firm handshake, I caught him several times checking out the door, as if he was waiting for God – or in this case, NASCAR’s God, aka Cale Yarborough – to come through.

Was Jimmie wondering whether Cale would be shouting at the top of his lungs, “Where’s that sumbitch Johnson? How DARE he have the nerve to tie MY RECORD!”

Would Cale, at the still spry age of 68, be ready to tangle with JJ right there in the Waldorf, just like he tangled with Donnie and brother Bobby Allison at the end of the 1979 Daytona 500?

When the dais was introduced and everyone was seated, I kept catching Johnson looking around, like his head was on a swivel.

Jimmie could be imagined thinking to himself, “Is Cale here? Where’s Cale? Oh, heck, I hope he’s not here!”

But a fact known to only a handful of people, Cale – the pride and joy of tiny Timmonsville, South Carolina (population around Cale’s birth in 1939 of roughly 600) – WAS indeed there in the Big Apple, sequestered from everyone’s eyes prior to the ceremony, particularly from Johnson’s eyes.

As the awards part of the banquet began, Johnson seemed to be a bit more relaxed, as if the potential threat of Hurricane Cale had passed. Honorariums and salutations were given to a number of folks as the countdown to honor Jimmie continued.

And then, when it came time to bring Johnson to center stage, a special announcement of a very special guest was made – and from behind the curtain out strode Cale Yarborough.

At the same time, Johnson’s eyes also popped out. If he was faking it, or knew beforehand that one of his racing idols would be joining him onstage, Johnson never let on.

Cale walked onstage to thunderous applause, looking dapper in a black tux and with a broad smile that was nearly as big as the width of his beloved South Carolina.

And true to his Carolinian roots of being just a down-home, welcoming Southern gent, Yarborough walked over to Johnson and gave him a big old bear hug. All of Johnson’s seeming fears faded away as Cale went on to speak about honoring Johnson for his achievement and that he, Cale, was honored to be on the same stage with Johnson.

That’s right, Cale was the one who was honored to be in Johnson’s presence, rather than just the other way around.

Yarborough then proceeded to give a tremendous speech, one that brought smiles and laughter – and even a few tears of joy – to every one of the several hundred faces in the Waldorf’s Grand Ballroom. Hell, Johnson was so embarrassed by some of Yarborough’s platitudes that he actually blushed a few times.

This was one of Johnson’s biggest idols, one of the drivers he patterned himself after – well, except for the feisty and fiery part, which was Cale’s sole providence during his days as a driver – telling the crowd that had assembled in arguably the world’s most famous hotel ballroom how great Johnson was.

And then, in one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship and honor ever seen at a Cup banquet, Cale said he was glad Jimmie tied his record and that he hoped he’d someday break it – not knowing, of course, that Johnson would do just that when he won his fourth consecutive title the following year and then a record fifth the year after that, a mark that likely will never be broken.

Once again, the two NASCAR champions hugged, shook hands and off Cale went, that broad smile seemingly ingrained on his face for the rest of the evening as the post-awards ceremony party began to kick into high gear with music, dancing and booze.

But one thing will forever be etched in my mind – and one thing that Johnson laughed at when he heard Cale say it – was when Cale made an absolutely outstanding one-liner about Johnson tying his record:

“I set a pretty good record, didn’t I? It took them 30 years to tie it.”

And somehow, even with all the greats that followed him in NASCAR, including Earnhardt, Waltrip, Gordon, Stewart and others, if Yarborough had to pick someone most befitting of tying and eventually breaking HIS record, he’d be hard-pressed to pick anyone else who would be more fitting to share that record with than Jimmie Johnson.

As the late Paul Harvey would say, "And now you know the rest of the story."

Cale Yarborough left us Sunday morning at the age of 84, passing away after a lengthy battle with various health issues. As the NASCAR world – and the broader auto racing world globally – expressed its condolences and sympathies to Yarborough’s family, somewhere, somehow I can’t help but wonder of all the great memories Johnson achieved in his career, how that night with Cale likely was right near the top of the list. How could it not be?

There'll never be another like the legendary, one-and-only Cale Yarborough, who died Sunday at the age of 84. Photo: ISC Archives