LeeRoy Yarbrough

Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Lonnie Yarbrough
Birthdate = birth date|1938|9|17
Died = death date and age|1984|12|7|1938|9|17
Birthplace = Jacksonville, Florida
Cause of Death = Internal head injuries caused by fall
Best_Cup_Pos = 15th - 1964 (Winston Cup)
Cup_Wins = 14
Cup_Top_Tens = 92
Cup_Poles = 10
First_Cup_Race = 1960 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
First_Cup_Win = 1964 Savannah 200 (Savannah Speedway)
Last_Cup_Win = 1970 National 500 (Charlotte)
Last_Cup_Race = 1972 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville)
Awards = Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
Years_In_Cup = 12
Total_Cup_Races = 198

Lonnie Yarbrough (born September 17, 1938 in Jacksonville, Florida, died December 7, 1984) was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 Top Ten finishes and earned $193,211. During his entire career from 1960-1972, he competed in 198 races, scoring 14 wins, 65 top fives, 92 top tens, and 10 poles. His racing number was 98.

Yarbrough was admitted to a mental institution in the mid-1970's, and died in 1984 after a fall while suffering from Cranio Cerebral Trauma.

In 1990, he was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. LeeRoy Yarbrough is not related to NASCAR champion Cale Yarborough. Their surnames have different spellings.

Early racing career

LeeRoy grew up on the rough side of Jacksonville, Florida, and developed an affinity for speed at an early age. When he was 12, 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.

Sportsman Division career

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.

NASCAR career

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. 2 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 in the October 16 National 500. [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Factory_team Factory-backed] rides followed. His Junior Johnson-owned Ford team started out poorly the early in the 1968 season. LeeRoy rebounded and won at Atlanta and Trenton.

1969

In the 1969 Daytona 500, Yarbrough found himself trailing Charlie Glotzbach by 11 seconds with 10 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 Glotbach 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 4 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. He 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. By season's end, Yarbrough had 7 wins to his credit and was named American Driver of The year.Fact|date=February 2008

After 1969

After his successful 1969 season, Yarbrough’s performance record tailed 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.

Indy 500 results