John grew up in the small town of Enterprise located on the narrow 2-lane Hwy 11 in Clarke County, MS. He graduated from high school in 1958 and soon after bought his first car. It was a black 1955 Chevrolet with a “Blue Flame” 6-cylinder engine. It just didn’t have enough “punch” for John, so after a trip to the junkyard, he was in possession of a Chevy Power Pack 283 recently removed from a wrecked ’57 convertible. With it bored out to 301 cid, a high lift cam and a big 4 bbl carb installed, JR now had what he needed.

Racing, talking about racing and having the fastest car around was what entertained the young men that hung out at “Lee’s Diner” over on Hwy 11. JR would accept any challenge and seldom lost. Anyone claiming to have a “bad car” would soon find JR looking for them, Jimmy Johnson, “Shug” Cranford, R.L.(Goober) Smith and the late John Henry Perry are a few of the names you might recognize. JR didn’t always have the money to lay down a bet but Irma, the owner of Lee’s Diner, was quick to back him. At times there would be five or six cars from the surrounding area, Meridian, Quitman or Stonewall lined up waiting for a shot at JR’s ’55, few were ever successful, JR sent them home one at a time!

Racing on Hwy 11 in those days required plenty of planning. Lookouts were posted North and South of the long straightaway near Lee’s Diner and would douse the headlights when “all was clear” or flash them if the Law was spotted. A radar trap had been set up one night and of course JR just had to test it. Southbound with a running start JR sped through, then with a quick left turn on Pine Hill Road he looped around, got back on Hwy 11 North and eased up to the Diner, parked and went inside. Word went over the police radio that a black car had been clocked at over 100 MPH and was headed toward Pachuta. Since the car never showed up in Pachuta, Officer Dansby went looking. Finding John’s car parked at the diner, he raised the hood and felt the radiator hose. Ouch!! It was mighty hot! Entering the Diner he confronted JR, who of course hadn’t been on Hwy 11 all evening except for the short trip from home. With a very strong hunch but no proof, the chase was over and the radar trap test was deemed a success!

The last run this ’55 ever took on its own power occurred one night when JR was on his way home from the Diner. The car wasn’t running just right and John kept trying to blow out the carbon (as if he ever let any carbon build up). The roads were wet and before long the car spun out of control, left the highway, bounced off the embankment, rolled over and ended up back on it’s wheels. Fortunately JR came out unscathed, can’t say as much for the “55. Shortly after, JR left for the Army National Guard in Gulfport. While he was away at camp, his Daddy sold the motor and that ended the Bad ‘55.
I recently took this picture of it. It is located behind a barn on County Road 150. Unfortunately we don’t have any pictures of the car when it was in its prime.

John’s next car was a baby blue, 2dr hardtop, ’58 Chevy Impala. This car just didn’t suit him, so it made way for a black with red interior ’59 Chevy. Now this was more like it! Since street racing was becoming just too big a risk, John decided to get one of the new rear engine Corvairs. The car itself was not new, just the concept! Imagine, a U.S. built car with the engine in the trunk! The Corvair never seemed to run just like it should (not many of them did) and since no one in the area had any desire to work on this type, John began to work on it himself. It wasn’t long before everyone who had a Corvair was bringing them to JR for his expertise.

A ’64 Chevelle and a ’61 Corvette also came and went in the next few years. In the early ‘70’s, John became interested in dirt track racing. He went into partnership with Bobby Perry racing a sprint car at Whynot Raceway. Bobby’s wife, Linda, introduced John to Karen by setting them up for a blind date. Soon Bobby sold his interest to JR, JR & Karen got married and became a racing family! As luck would have it, Ronnie Goldman, who John had known for some time, began helping with the car. They had several drivers during this time, Dewitt Singleton, Danny Allen, Herb Crawford and the late unforgettable Johnny Barr.

By this time he had become the man to see if you needed help getting a motor to “breathe fire” and reach the other end first! Making a carburetor that would flow maximum cfm (cubic feet per minute of air/fuel ratio) has become John’s forte. He is well known as “The Carbman” at all the surrounding dirt tracks in MS, LA & Al. If you see a winning car on the dirt track, you will most likely see a “Lightsey Racing Carburetors” sticker on the chassis somewhere or look for “LRC” on the fuel block.

After years of health problems, John retired from Chevron and now spends most of his time at home supplying the local racers with high performance carburetors. He has passed a lot of his knowledge on to his son John Jr. and anxiously waits for him to come home on weekends and other times off from his regular job in Mobile. He hopes that one day his “Carbman” title will be passed down to Jr.

And now, nearly 42 years later, John and Karen are enjoying another of their dreams, tooling around in their “new” ’55 Chevy. This one was previously owned by Leroy Sisson of Quitman and spent many years in a chicken barn. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Ronnie Goldman, this ’55 is an absolute “showcase”. The following picture isn’t adequate to show all the quality work put into this car. The interior, the trunk and under the hood are areas you will just have to see for yourself. Attend one of the local car shows to enjoy a real classic car treat!

John and Karen also have a ’33 Ford Phaeton & a 70 ½ Camaro Z28 they regularly show and a ’70 Monte Carlo that they bought new and haven’t yet restored.
Say hi to the “Carbman” next time you see him, I sure will !!!