Conway Lee Bible (May 27, 1887
March 13, 1929) was an American garage operator and a racing-car driver.
He was killed attempting to break the
land-speed record on March 13, 1929, at
Ormond Beach
Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropo ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
Early life
He was born Conway Lee Bible on a farm near
Midway,
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
.
Pre-record attempt
On March 11, British driver
Major Henry O. D. Segrave had set the land-speed record of in his ''
Golden Arrow'', beating the old record held by
Ray Keech
Charles Raymond Keech (May 1, 1900 – June 15, 1929) was an American racing driver. He is best remembered for winning the 1929 Indianapolis 500, as well as for setting a land speed record.
Racing career
Land speed record
Keech set th ...
, who had set the record in the ''
Triplex Special''.
Jim White, owner of the ''Special'', wanted the title to come back to the United States. Keech was asked to come back and drive the ''Triplex Special'', but he declined, considering the car too dangerous.
White then offered the ride to their team mechanic and garage operator, Lee Bible, who saw this as the opportunity of a lifetime. He was declared eligible by officials after a few practice runs, despite his lack of experience.
The record attempt
On his first run, Bible was clocked at – well below the record. On his return run he was clocked at . However, shortly after the time trap, the car suddenly swerved, presumably because Bible released the accelerator too fast. The ''Triplex Special'' crashed into the dunes and rolled, finally coming to a stop further. During this crash, Bible was thrown from the car, killing him instantly. The ''Triplex Special'' rolled into a newsreel cameraman, Charles R. Traub,
who was killed instantly.
See also
*
List of people from Tennessee
The following is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. state of Tennessee, live (or lived) in Tennessee, or for whom Tennessee is significant part of their identity:
A
*Roy Acuff (1903–1992), musician; born in Maynardv ...
*
List of racing drivers who died in racing crashes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bible, Lee
1887 births
1929 deaths
20th-century American sportsmen
19th-century American sportsmen
Land speed record people
Racing drivers from Tennessee
Racing drivers who died while racing
Sports deaths in Florida
Volusia County, Florida
1920s in Florida
Motorsport in Florida
1929 in American motorsport
American sportsmen