Full Throttle

Lloyd Moore, NASCAR’s oldest living driver, died Sunday. He was 95.

Moore died in his modest, beige-and-brick home, the same place he was born on June 8, 1912. He was a farmer, mechanic, bus driver, and for 17 years he ran the school bus garage for the Frewsburg Central Schools.

Moore raced stock cars through the sand on Daytona Beach and on dirt tracks against stock car legends like Lee Petty, Buck Baker and Fireball Roberts. Moore was part of the 1949 Strictly Stocks season, which was the first year of what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup. (Season results page)

“That [Lee] Petty was a tough driver, good guy,” he said. “We became good friends, but it almost didn’t happen. Once, in Detroit, he booted me, hit my car in the rear. He teed me off. Afterward, I asked him what his idea was. He said, ‘It was just an accident on purpose.’ We both laughed and we shook hands. He was always smiling. All the Pettys smile.”

Moore’s first Nascar race was in Heidelberg, Pa., outside Pittsburgh. Lee Petty won. Moore was sixth and earned $150, which he split with the car owner.

The fifth-place finisher was Sara Christian.

“I got raspberries from the guys at the track,” Moore said, “and when I got home it was just as bad. Beaten by a woman? Hah, hah.”

His one victory in Nascar came in 1950 at Winchester Speedway in Indiana over a half-mile dirt track. He finished the season fourth in points. His teammate, Bill Rexford, won the title.

“My driving career ended because I realized I should be doing more work on the farm,” he said. “I had a lot of kids to feed and my mother and father to take care of. I had been on the road long enough. It was the right decision. I never wanted to go back to racing. I haven’t been to a track since. It seems like when you give it up, you give it up.

“But if I didn’t have such a big family, I would have raced probably another 10 years. There’s nothing like sliding into a car and competing. I like speed. I like the competition. I miss it.”

Moore is survived by his wife, Virginia; six children; 14 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren.

R.I.P. Lloyd Moore.

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