Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay (December 14, 1919 – September 2, 1941) was an early stock car racing driver from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

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 ...

founder Bill France Sr. described Seay as the "best pure race driver I ever saw". He was shot to death by his cousin Woodrow Anderson over a moonshine operation. His last name was pronounced as "See". Seay came from a racing family. His cousin Roy Hall was a racer who was the subject of the

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to p ...

song "Rapid Roy, that Stock Car Boy". Another cousin, Raymond Parks, was the owner of NASCAR's first

Strictly Stock Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

championship car.

Moonshine runner

A Georgia deputy described Seay, "He was without a doubt the best automobile driver of this time. He was absolutely fearless, and an excellent driver on those dusty, dirt roads. I caught him eight times and had to shoot his tires off every time." A different deputy described another night when he pulled Seay over for speeding as he was transporting a load of moonshine through a city north of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. After he gave the deputy two five dollar bills, the officer said, "Dammit Lloyd, you know the fine for speedin' ain't but five dollars" Seay replied, "Yeah, but I'm gon' be in a hurry comin' back, so I'm payin' an advance."

Racing career

Lloyd began racing in 1938, winning in his first stock car race at

Lakewood Speedway Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway (formerly Lakewood Freeway). The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctione ...

driving a 1934 Ford owned by his cousin Raymond Parks and tuned by Red Vogt when he was 18 years old. On November 21, 1938, Seay won a 150-mile darkness shortened national championship stock car race at Lakewood. He flipped his car twice during the July 27, 1941 race at the Daytona Beach Road Course and finished fourth. He returned to the track later that year on August 24, 1941 against his cousin Roy Hall in Parks' cars. After starting fifteenth, he led all 50 laps in the race. He won his next race on August 31 at High Point, and left immediately for the Labor Day race at

on the following day. He arrived late at the event, missing qualifying. He had to start last, and he passed into the lead on lap 35. He battled

Bob Flock Robert Newman Flock (April 16, 1918 – May 16, 1964) was an American stock car racer. He qualified on the pole position for NASCAR's first Strictly Stock (now NASCAR Cup Series) race and, along with Red Byron, is considered one of the two b ...

all afternoon before winning the $450 race. It was his last race. He had won three races in 15 days.

Death

After winning the Lakewood race, he drove to his brother Jim's house in Burlsboro, Georgia to sleep overnight. The next morning, their cousin Woodrow Anderson came to the house to settle a dispute over sugar that Lloyd had charged to Woodrow's account. Lloyd, Jim, and Woodrow went to Woodrow's father's house to settle the dispute, and Lloyd was shot by Woodrow Anderson. He was buried in Dawsonville Cemetery. The November 2, 1941 race at Lakewood Speedway was dedicated to Seay.

Awards

Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay was one of eight drivers inducted in the first class of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2002, along with Bill Elliott,

Tim Flock Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and Bob and Fonty Flock. NASCAR career Tim F ...

Red Byron Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first c ...

, and Seay's cousins Parks and Hall.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seay, Lloyd 1919 births 1941 deaths People from Dawson County, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) Male murder victims People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Burials in Georgia (U.S. state) American murder victims