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

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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

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

'' driver from

Red Springs, North Carolina Red Springs is a town in Hoke and Robeson counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,428 at the 2010 census. Geography Red Springs is located in northern Robeson County at (34.814363, -79.184281). North Carolina Highway ...

, 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 spectato ...

; 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 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

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 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

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

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 soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

'' 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. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

from the 1962 NASCAR Grand National Season.

Art Brady Art is a diverse range of human behavior, human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imagination, imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no genera ...

would take over for Tyner in 1962; finishing 21st at the 1962 Southern 500 along with

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

(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 NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of 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'' may also refer to an unre ...

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 disch ...

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 referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

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

1968 NASCAR Grand National season The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

. 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 Americans 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