Lee roy yarbrough biography of martin

Log In. Browse Biographies. Quiz Are you a biography pro? A Gerolamo Cardano. B Leonhard Euler. C Pierre de Fermat. The hospital reported that he hit his head on the floor following a seizure. He is remembered by many as a driver with limitless talent and an uncontrolled passion for racing. Yarbrough was larger than life in many ways and could have gone on to become an even greater name had it not been for the unfortunate incidents in and His career serves as a stark reminder of the cruel nature of motorsports.

Post Edited By: Rahul Ahluwalia. Gowtham Ramalingam. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over articles on the sport. During the span of his career, he accumulated fourteen wins and 65 top-five finishes. After his wining streak inhis career slowed with the lack of a ride. At the Texas World Speedway inhe suffered a rather serious crash, and began having rather serious memory problems.

The following year, he crashed again during the first turn of the Indianapolisand was in and out of the hospital consistently for several months after. When asked about his passion, Yarbrough described racing as "what I call my life. Yarbrough was admitted to a mental institution on March 7,after trying to kill his mother by strangulation.

Yarbrough grew up on the west side of Jacksonville, Floridaand developed an affinity for speed at an early age. When he was sixteen years-old, Yarbrough put together his first car, a Ford coupe with a Chrysler engine. When he was 19, Yarbrough found his way to a local dirt track. He won that race at Jacksonville Speedway in the spring of Racing at Jacksonville Speedway Park on Saturday nights Yarborough developed a penchant for carrying excess speed into the third turn and diving under any car that was ahead of him.

He would then slide through the turn and run the straightway 1" from the concrete wall. The style was lee roy yarbrough biography of martin in many of his last lap wins throughout his career. After winning 11 races, Yarbrough moved up to the more powerful Modifieds and won 83 features in a three-year span. 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 of the miles km in the October 16 National Factory-backed rides followed. His Junior Johnson -owned Ford team started out poorly early in the season. LeeRoy rebounded and won at Atlanta and Trenton. In the DaytonaYarbrough was 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 Next, he won Darlington's Rebel in the final four laps, then won Charlotte's Worldlapping the entire field at least twice.

He captured The Southern 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. A victim of the factory withdrawal, Yarbrough had to scramble to locate rides in Grand National events.

He won once in at Charlotte Motor Speedwayand only entered six races in Inhe 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 Speedweeks, but failed to earn a starting berth for the Daytona Yarbrough blew a tire between turns three and four and impacted the wall at over mph.

Yarbrough's head hit a roll bar inside the cockpit with such force that it cracked his helmet. He was released from the hospital that evening, and at the time, was not believed to have been a serious head injury. The straps made my shoulders black and blue and I'm pretty sore. After Al Unser retired with 14 laps remaining, Yarbrough inherited the lead.

With a margin of two laps over second place, it appeared that Yarbrough would score an unlikely victory. But with eight laps remaining, Yarbrough suffered a broken piston and blew an engine, coasting to a stop in turn four. Yarbrough drew cheers from the crowd as he pushed his car back to the pits. After competing in three Indianapolis s in'69 and '70, Yarbrough was driving a Dan Gurney Eagle in practice on May 9 for the Indianapolis when he spun and crashed hard in turn one, suffering head injuries.

Cale Yarborough was at the track hospital when LeeRoy was brought in. He was the palest live man I've ever seen. He was rumoured to have contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever from a tick bite, and also drank alcohol heavily. He most likely suffered brain trauma from the crashes in Texas and Indianapolis. Ina court, on recommendation from a psychiatric board, ruled him incompetent to handle his own affairs and he moved in with his mother, Minnie Yarbrough.

Lee roy yarbrough biography of martin

The alcohol abuse further irritated his brain damage. Yarbrough's mother noticed a change in his behavior in early He began spending most of his time in bed reading racing magazines, rarely leaving his bedroom. On Saturday, February 9, Yarbrough went out for a walk and someone bought him some beers. A policeman friend later brought him to a local hospital where he was released at 2 am.

As his mother recalled, "they called me and told me nothing was wrong with him, except that he apparently had a drinking problem. I told them, 'Please keep him there. You don't know LeeRoy. I know my son. He needs help, and it's not the drinking. On Wednesday, February 13, LeeRoy spent most of the day in bed, with his mother bringing him food.

Terry Sweat, Minnie's grandson, had left the house to buy her cigarettes. While doing the dishes after dinner, LeeRoy entered the kitchen and remarked about his mouth, saying "'Mama, look how you've cut my mouth! Your mouth is all right. I looked at it. It was not cut. I'm going to kill you. Terry Sweat returned and struck Yarbrough with a jelly jar until he released his mother.

When police arrived, LeeRoy struck an officer in the face and needed several firefighters to subdue him. Police arrested Yarbrough with charges of first-degree attempted murder for trying to kill his year-old mother, plus assault on a police officer. Judge Oliff ruled that Mr.