Many lawmen who covered “the old bootlegger’s trail” also known as GA Highway 9, were quoted as saying Seay was the best automobile driver they’d seen. When running the precious white liquid to Atlanta, you had to be careful…if any bottles or jars broke, you lost money. But that certainly didn’t apply to Lloyd Seay. He could ease in and out of the winding mountain roads and even down to the re-built city of Atlanta. He could easily top 100mph while driving with his palms at the bottom of the steering wheel facing up. That allowed him to make a complete turning motion at once if he ever needed to make a 180 degree bootlegger’s turn.
However, “Lightning” Lloyd was known not only for his skills off the track, but also on the track too. In the fall of 1938, businessman and promoter, Frank Christian was traveling to his home in nearby Dahlonega when he glanced off to the side of the road in an abandoned corn field near the river. There laid some of the fastest street cars racing in circles with a small group of locals who came to see the excitement after church. When he approached one of the drivers, they told him that they were trying to see who had the fastest moonshine runner. That’s when it all clicked for Christian. He thought that if these people were coming out for free to see these guys run….then they surely would pay to see them on a professional track. He was right. On Armistice Day of 1938, the first known and organized stock car race was held in the state of Georgia. Frank Christian decided he would rent the Lakewood Fairground Track in the heart of Atlanta. But
auto racing there wasn’t his idea…as early as 1916, the first auto race was held there with Indy type cars racing the clay mile. Pryor to that, it was used for Horse Racing.
Hundreds of people gathered to the Lakewood Fairgrounds to watch what some would say, one of the most historic moments in Georgia Racing History. The race was just a small, 50-lap event with Lloyd Seay driving his 1934 Ford roadster with a broken arm to a win against the likes of his cousin Roy Hall, Bill France, Jap Brogdan, and Bob Flock.
But he never would have gotten to get that trophy, without a Mr. Raymond Parks. Parks was one of his Dawsonville cousins. Seay worked for Parks starting around 1934 or 
1935 in the moonshine business along with his and Parks’ other cousin, Roy Hall. When Seay got word that an organized stock car race for the local moonshiners and hot-rodders, Seay pleaded and begged Parks’ to field him a modified moonshine car. So Raymond talked to his friend, Red Vogt, who also built Seay and Hall’s moonshining cars, about building a monster of a racecar for the upcoming Lakewood event. Parks’ figured if he lost that race, then he wouldn’t have to deal with racecars no more. But he was wrong.
Since most of the 38’ season was over with, the three cousins waited until the start of the 1939 season. His first race was at Daytona where he was running strong, but finished 3rd. He won several races in the 39’ season from Florida to all the way to Langhorne Penn. Just one year into his short career, he was already a house-hold name in the racing family. Red Vogt and his assistant, Buckshot Morris, were hired full time by Raymond Parks to prepare his team of cars. But at the time, Seay was his most successful driver, so just a little more money went to the #7 Ford.
In 1940, Seay started off the season driving a #4 39’ Ford sedan for Raymond at Daytona finishing 7th. He also had quite a memorable year as he won 8 races in 5 different states. New promoters were quickly latching on to the new Stock Car Racing idea and new tracks were popping up everywhere you looked. Some times a track would run for one race and shut down….but that just gives “the Bopper” some more stuff to look up for his segment.
In 1941, Seay’s last year in competition, was his best year yet. Although he didn’t win his first race of the season until mid-August, he still was very competitive and always one to win every Sunday afternoon. In his fifth start of the season at the Summer Daytona beach race, Lloyd earned his first victory of the season. It seems like a long time, but there weren’t many races in the series he ran in, so the 5th start was in August. He started 15th, but before the first lap was counted…he was in 1st place. He loved Daytona and knew how to get around it well. In fact, just a few months before, the famous “two wheeled picture” occurred. While going through the North turn, Lloyd Seay managed to get his entire car on two wheels while driving one-handed. Any way, Seay lead the entire 50-lap race to get his first Daytona win in only 5 starts.
The next race on the schedule was at the new track up in Highpoint North Carolina on August 31st. Again for the second week, the #7 Hemphill Special dominated by lapping the entire field twice. The following scheduled race was the very next day on September 1st, 1941 for the Labor Day Classic at Lakewood. Since it was a far drive, Seay arrived late to Lakewood and missed qualifying, and was forced to start in last place. This was a championship race, so many top drivers were racing. However, Seay found the lead just 35 laps into the race. He battled fiercely with Bob Flock all afternoon eventually ending in Flock overdriving his car on the last lap and getting into the wall, but still finishing second. So once again, “Lightning Lloyd” won another race. And for those who didn’t keep up with this…that means he won 3 races in just 15 days! The “Blond Bambino” as some called him won his biggest race of his career, but tragically, it would be
his last….
After the big championship race, Seay was tired and didn’t feel like he could drive back home to Dawsonville. So he went over to his brother, Jim’s house to spend the night in a nearby, small town called Burlsboro. When morning rose on September the 2nd, another one of their cousin’s, Woodrow Anderson, angrily banged on the door. He claimed that Lloyd charged a $5 bag of sugar for moonshine to Anderson’s credit account and hadn’t paid him back. So after a bit of arguing, Jim and Lloyd got in Woodrow’s car to travel to their aunt’s house so she could figure out who owed what and how much. Along the way, Anderson stopped the car to get some water for his radiator at his dad’s farm, several miles down the road. According to the Seay family, Anderson angrily took out a small pistol from his overall pocket and first shot Jim Seay in the neck, then shot Lloyd Seay in the heart. Jim survived, but was badly wounded. Lloyd was killed instantly.
Neither had time to get out and fight since Anderson shot threw the window. He was tried in court the following month and was found guilty and sentenced to life in the Ga state prison.
Many mourned the loss of one of the most popular and fearless driver of the time. Future NASCAR founder, Bill France was once quoted as saying up until Dale Earnhardt came along, Lloyd Seay was the best stock car driver he’d seen. His funeral possession was led by his famous Silver Bullet 1939 Ford driven by Raymond Parks. Parks even secretly paid for a top-notch head-stone made of marble with an inscribing of his racecar and the trophy he won at Lakewood dated September 1st, 1941. And inside the car is placed a picture of the racer that was made into the stone that to this day, looks like it was placed in there yesterday. After he died, his cousin, Roy Hall took it real hard…and that’s when he started to get involved with crime and was always in jail. Cousin Raymond Parks even once said that after he died, he really didn’t feel a true connection with the sport of stock car racing, but he still loved it very much.
The next race at Lakewood was in November, and was named “The Lloyd Seay Memorial 100”. And from news reports, was the biggest attendance at the track up until NASCAR had it’s first race there 7 years later.
Even though “Lightning”Lloyd Seay never competed in NASCAR, or any other big name organization…his name still can be heard from older fans and recent reports about early racing. Since September 2nd, 1941, The Legacy of “Lightning” Lloyd grows more and more every day, and I can only hope that this small tribute will make him even more known.
