LeeRoy Yarbrough

Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough

Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough's official publicity photo (1969)
Born September 17, 1938(1938-09-17)
Jacksonville, Florida
Died December 7, 1984(1984-12-07) (aged 46)
Cause of death Internal head injuries caused by fall
Awards Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
198 races run over 12 years
Best finish 15th – 1964 Grand National Series season
First race 1960 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
Last race 1972 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville)
First win 1964 Savannah 200 (Savannah Speedway)
Last win 1970 National 500 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
14 92 10

Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($1,014,319.2 when inflation is taken into effect). During his entire career from 1960–1972, he competed in 198 races, scoring fourteen wins, 65 finishes in the top-five, 92 finishes in the top-ten, and ten pole positions. His racing number was 98.

Yarbrough was admitted to a mental institution on March 7, 1980 after trying to kill his mother by putting his hands around her neck. [1] [2] All attempts to rehabilitate him (either in Florida or in North Carolina) failed and LeeRoy eventually died in 1984 after a fall while suffering from a traumatic brain injury.[2] In 1990, he was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.[2] LeeRoy Yarbrough is not related to NASCAR champion Cale Yarborough. Their surnames have different spellings although they are pronounced similarly.

Contents

Career

Early stock car career

LeeRoy grew up on the rough side of Jacksonville, Florida, and developed an affinity for speed at an early age. When he was sixteen years old, Yarbrough put together his first car, a 1934 Ford coupe with a Chrysler engine. When he was 19, Yarbrough found his way to a local dirt track. Yarbrough won that race at Jacksonville Speedway in the spring of 1957.

Yarbrough started his racing career in NASCAR's lower tier Sportsman division. After winning 11 races, Yarbrough moved up to the more powerful Modifieds and won 83 features in a three-year span.

Yarbrough won two short-track races in the 1964 NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) season, the first year he competed in more than 14 races. Two years later, Yarbrough scored his first superspeedway win at Charlotte. Driving an unsponsored and lightly regarded Dodge Charger owned by Jon Thorne, Yarbrough dominated the race, leading for 450 of the 500 miles (800 km) in the October 16 National 500. Factory-backed rides followed. His Junior Johnson-owned Ford team started out poorly early in the 1968 season. LeeRoy rebounded and won at Atlanta and Trenton.

1969 and later

In the 1969 Daytona 500, Yarbrough found himself trailing Charlie Glotzbach by 11 seconds with ten laps remaining. On the final lap, Yarbrough ducked to the low side to make the pass, but a lapped car was in that lane. Yarbrough dived to the low side in turn 3 to clear the lapped car, nearly clipping the apron. He took the lead from Glotzbach and dashed under the checkered flag a car length in front to win the Daytona 500. Next, he won Darlington's Rebel 400 in the final four laps, then won Charlotte's World 600, lapping the entire field at least twice. He also bagged the summer 400-miler at Daytona, prevailing in a late-race battle with Buddy Baker. Yarbrough won the summer race at Atlanta International Raceway despite a 102-degree fever. He captured The Southern 500 by passing David Pearson on the last lap. He won by a full lap at Rockingham in October, overcoming a lap deficit when a flat tire sent him into the wall. By season's end, Yarbrough had seven wins to his credit and was named American Driver of The year.

After his successful 1969 season, Yarbrough’s performance record trailed off. A victim of the factory withdrawal, Yarbrough had to scramble to locate rides in Grand National events. He won once in 1970 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and only entered six races in 1971. In 1972, he accepted a ride in a Ford owned by independent campaigner Bill Seifert. He registered nine top 10 finishes in 18 starts. Yarbrough showed up for Daytona's 1973 Speedweeks, but failed to earn a starting berth for the Daytona 500. He virtually dropped out of sight after that, never again showing up at a NASCAR event.

Indianapolis 500

Yarbrough also competed in the second of his three (also 1967, 1970) Indianapolis 500s that year, qualifying 8th but falling out after a mechanical problem on lap 66.

Year Car number Start Qual Rank Finish Laps 500 Led Retired
1967 67 26 163.066 24 27 87 0 Crash NC
1969 67 8 168.075 8 23 65 0 Split Header
1970 27 13 166.559 19 19 107 0 Turbo Gear
Totals 259 0
Starts 3
Poles 0
Front Row 0
Wins 0
Top 5 0
Top 10 0
Retired 3

References

  1. ^ http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2011/08/01/leeroy-he-aint-here-no-more/
  2. ^ a b c "The Fall of LeeRoy Yarbrough". Legends of NASCAR. http://www.legendsofnascar.com/leeroy_yarbrough.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
Preceded by
Cale Yarborough		 Daytona 500 Winner
1969		 Succeeded by
Pete Hamilton