Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racer.

Yarbrough also competed in open-wheel racing, making 5 starts in the USAC Championship cars, including 3 Indianapolis 500s, with a best finish of 3rd at Trenton Speedway in 1970.

[1][2] All attempts to rehabilitate him (both in Florida or in North Carolina) failed and LeeRoy eventually died in 1984 after a fall.

[2] In 1990, he was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

Yarbrough grew up on the west 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.

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.

After winning 11 races, Yarbrough moved up to the more powerful Modifieds and won 83 features in a three-year span.

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.

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.

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

On April 22, 1970, Yarbrough suffered head injuries while doing tire tests for Goodyear at Texas World Speedway.

Yarbrough's head hit a roll bar inside the cockpit with such force that it cracked his helmet.

[6] Yarbrough showed well in a few Indy Car starts, leading the inaugural California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway late.

But with eight laps remaining, Yarbrough suffered a broken piston and blew an engine, coasting to a stop in turn four.

He was rumoured to have contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever from a tick bite, and also drank alcohol heavily.

In 1977, a court, on recommendation from a psychiatric board, ruled him incompetent to handle his own affairs and he moved in with his mother, Minnie Yarbrough.

He began spending most of his time in bed reading racing magazines, rarely leaving his bedroom.

When police arrived, LeeRoy struck an officer in the face and needed several firefighters to subdue him.

Yarbrough was committed to the Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee by Judge Hudson Oliff of Jacksonville on March 7, 1980.

Judge Oliff ruled that Mr. Yarbrough was not guilty of attempted murder because he was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the incident.

"[8] In March 1981, Junior Johnson and auto racing chaplain Bill Baird had LeeRoy transferred to a mental hospital in Asheville, North Carolina and a fund was set up to pay for his expenses.