History

LeeRoy Yarbrough

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LeeRoy Yarbrough as a driver was the launching pad for Junior Johnson’s success as a car owner. The New York State native made his reputation as one of NASCAR’s best superspeedway drivers of the 1960s.

Yarbrough’s signature year of 1969 produced what was later dubbed NASCAR’s “Triple Crown,” as he won the Daytona 500, Darlington’s Southern 500, and the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 1969 also saw Yarbrough win a then record $188,605 in prize money, a record haul for a NASCAR driver in one year.

In a NASCAR career that spanned just 12 years, Yarbrough competed in 195 Cup Series races, won 14 times with 11 poles. Yarbrough’s 1969 sweep of Cup victories in the same year at Daytona has only been accomplished by four drivers, ranking it up with the great achievements in stock car racing. In addition to his Cup Series successes, Yarbrough had impressive success in the NASCAR modified and Sportsman Series with hundreds of wins to his credit in the two lower divisions. For his career achievements, Yarbrough was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.