Larry McCoy III (August 18, 1942 – December 9, 1979) was an American race car driver in

open wheel racing An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

. Born in

Langhorne, Pennsylvania Langhorne Borough is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,622 at the time of the 2010 census. The mailing address "Langhorne" is used for Langhorne Borough, but it is also used broadly to describe the majority of surro ...

, McCoy graduated from Bristol High School in

Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorporat ...

, and then entered law school at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

but did not graduate. He drove in the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series, racing in the 1972–-1976 seasons with 24 starts, including the 1975 and 1976

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

. His best finish was 12th place at

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...

in 1974. His career ended in 1977 following the death of his father, Larry McCoy, Sr., who was the manager of the racing team. The team's sponsor subsequently withdrew funding. After retiring from racing, McCoy opened a restaurant in Bristol, Pa. An unspecified illness that affected his neurological system left him unable to function normally, including his love, driving. After a prolonged struggle with this illness, Larry McCoy committed suicide in 1979 at his home in Bristol. He left behind a wife, Diane, and son Larry McCoy IV.''Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times'', September 15, 1974.

References

1942 births 1979 suicides 1979 deaths People from Langhorne, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Indianapolis 500 drivers Racing drivers from Pennsylvania Suicides in Pennsylvania {{US-autoracing-bio-stub