34 race car

rockfla

rockfla

Well-known member
Came across this picture today....Not sure exactly what year but it was taken at Jacksonville Raceway. The driver was LeeRoy Yarbourgh....Jacksonville saw many of the founding drivers of what is now NASCAR race here quite frequently.....LeeRoy lived here and ultimately died here in Jax. Looks like it "WAS" quite the nice two door and obviously had not been race much, YET!!!
 

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rockfla;. Looks like it "WAS" quite the nice two door and obviously had not been race much said:
One of the "good ol' boys! When ya lead the pack ya don't get beat up. LOL
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34fordy said:
One of the "good ol' boys! When ya lead the pack ya don't get beat up. LOL
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34fordy
LeeRoy was one of the Top Dogs back in the day.....And he raced against Tiny Lunde, Fireball Roberts and plenty of good "local" drivers.
 
rockfla said:
Came across this picture today....Not sure exactly what year but it was taken at Jacksonville Raceway. The driver was LeeRoy Yarbourgh....Jacksonville saw many of the founding drivers of what is now NASCAR race here quite frequently.....LeeRoy lived here and ultimately died here in Jax. Looks like it "WAS" quite the nice two door and obviously had not been race much, YET!!!
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562573
 
rockfla said:
34fordy
LeeRoy was one of the Top Dogs back in the day.....And he raced against Tiny Lunde, Fireball Roberts and plenty of good "local" drivers.
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Yes, I remember all those names. That was dirt track and sand and more enjoyable and exciting to me than all the high dollar "Team" racing of today! I went to an Indy car race in Newton Iowa a few years ago. Never saw such boring racing in my life.
 
The first NASCAR race I remember was the 1969 Daytona 500 which LeeRoy won in a Torino Talladega. I suspect he had too many head injuries, but Jr. Johnson said he was the most fearless driver he ever saw. His life ended in a very sad way. Ronnie Van Zant and buddies (Lynyrd Skynyrd) used to stop at LeeRoy's to watch them work on the race cars. He said he wanted to become as famous as Leeroy. No doubt he did but died in a plane crash. Both just tragic stories but both had their moment of glory.
 
1942deluxe said:
The first NASCAR race I remember was the 1969 Daytona 500 which LeeRoy won in a Torino Talladega. I suspect he had too many head injuries, but Jr. Johnson said he was the most fearless driver he ever saw. His life ended in a very sad way. Ronnie Van Zant and buddies (Lynyrd Skynyrd) used to stop at LeeRoy's to watch them work on the race cars. He said he wanted to become as famous as Leeroy. No doubt he did but died in a plane crash. Both just tragic stories but both had their moment of glory.
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1942Deluxe
You seem to know some pretty intimate details on Jacksonville history? Two of the VanZant boys had the paper route in our neighborhood back in 66 when my parents moved here. There was also a couple of pretty well known performance/engine builders here from back in the day and from the racing circuit. Towards the end LeeRoy didn't even know who he was!!!!
 
Leeroy.jpg
Rockfla,
Just what I've read on both subjects. There was an article I think titled "LeeRoy doesn't live here anymore" several years back that detailed his decline. I remember reading an article where he had a bad crash in Texas I think and caught a ride home on Cale Yarborough's airplane. Cale said LeeRoy didn't even know who he was on the return flight. NASCAR today has a concussion protocol which was long overdue. I credit Dale Jr. for that. In the old days if you missed a race, you likely lost your ride and maybe career. Fred Lorenzen's daughter was convinced his dementia was caused by concussions.
 
Not to pick bits, but the sedan is a 33. Even on race cars back then they were tossing the 33 grilles to replace with 34’s.
 
1942deluxe said:
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Rockfla,
Just what I've read on both subjects. There was an article I think titled "LeeRoy doesn't live here anymore" several years back that detailed his decline. I remember reading an article where he had a bad crash in Texas I think and caught a ride home on Cale Yarborough's airplane. Cale said LeeRoy didn't even know who he was on the return flight. NASCAR today has a concussion protocol which was long overdue. I credit Dale Jr. for that. In the old days if you missed a race, you likely lost your ride and maybe career. Fred Lorenzen's daughter was convinced his dementia was caused by concussions.
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562621
 
alchemy said:
Not to pick bits, but the sedan is a 33. Even on race cars back then they were tossing the 33 grilles to replace with 34’s.
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SO.....I know there are differences between 33 & 34 in the belt molding are and around the window openings IF I remember correctly BUT Is that how you are telling its 33???
 
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