William Leroy "Roy" Tyner (January 3, 1934 – February 23, 1989) was a ''

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

'' driver from

Red Springs, North Carolina Red Springs is a town in Robeson County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,087 at the 2020 census. Geography Red Springs is located in northern Robeson County. North Carolina Highways 211 and 71 are the main roads throug ...

, United States.

NASCAR career

Driver

Tyner participated in the 1968 Fireball 300 in addition to the

1959 Daytona 500 The 1959 First 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona (now known as the 1959 Inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season. It was held on February 22, 1959, in front of 41,921 spectator ...

; his total contribution to his career statistics includes making fourteen finishes in the top five, and seventy-one finishes in the top ten. Additional statistics included a total career earnings of $83902 ($ when adjusted for inflation), 45420 laps completed, an average start of 23rd place, an average finish of 19th place, and of stock car racing experience. Tyner has competed in 311 races in his thirteen-year career from the time that he was 23 years old (in the

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

season) to the time that he was 36 years old (in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

season). Tyner's nicknames were ''The Flying Indian'' and ''The Wild Indian''. His choice of automobiles were the

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, and

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

; with only Pontiac being a defunct brand name as of 2022. The most famous sponsor associated with him was ''

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

'' which he was seen drinking between races and which continued to be his beverage of choice throughout his life. For reasons unknown, Tyner chose to take a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

from the 1962 NASCAR Grand National Season. Art Brady would take over for Tyner in 1962; finishing 21st at the 1962 Southern 500 along with

Cale Yarborough William Caleb Yarborough (March 27, 1939 – December 31, 2023) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, farmer, and rancher. He was the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winn ...

(25th at Charlotte) and T.C. Hunt (19th at Chattanooga).

Owner

In addition to being a driver, Tyner eventually became a NASCAR owner. Tyner ran his own business doing auto body repair after his driving career ended. He also worked as a show car driver for

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American professional stock car racing driver, engineer, and team owner as well as an entrepreneur. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career befor ...

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

race team. Tyner's death was caused by a fatal

gunshot A gunshot is a single discharge of a gun, typically a man-portable firearm, producing a visible flash, a powerful and loud shockwave and often chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a ballistic wound caused by such a discharge ...

to the head while he was in the show truck that was later set on fire. Local police ruled the death a suicide, but many believe foul play was involved. The case is still a mystery to this day. Tyner was married twice and fathered three children: William Leroy Jr., India Dawn, and Truett (who has a Pontiac patch from his father's racing days). Tyner would accomplish twelve finishes in the top five, sixty-one finished in the top ten, 36235 laps, $234809 ($ when adjusted for inflation) in total winnings, and 23869.0 miles of racing as an owner. The vehicles that Tyner would own would have an average start of 23rd and an average finish of 19th.

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

driver

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott Sr. (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was the first African-American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR at its highest level. Scott began his ...

would participate in one racing event using Roy Tyner's car in the

1968 NASCAR Grand National season Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. This event would be known as the 1968 Rebel 400.Racing Reference - Tyner as an Owner
at Racing Reference

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyner, William LeRoy 1934 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Native American people 1989 suicides NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners Native American sportspeople People from Red Springs, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina Suicides by firearm in North Carolina