A Tragic Day
Swayne Pritchett (17) indicates to the field at the Jackson County Speedway that there will be one lap before the green flag on May 16, 1948. Photos courtesy Harold & C.L. Pritchett
Sunday, May 16, 1948 was said to be a pretty day in Jackson County. Color photos from that day show just a few wisps of clouds in the sky. A crowd reported at about 6,000 spectators had come out to the Jackson County Speedway to see some of the area’s favorite modified drivers go at it on the half-mile track. Among the drivers were Swayne Pritchett, and his friend Tommie Irvin.
Pritchett was the class of the field that day. He won every time he hit the track, first in the heat race, then in the trophy dash. His Ford was hooked up and flying around the track, and nobody could touch him.
Pritchett took the green flag from the pole in the feature event, and led every lap to take the win. The crowd cheered as the number 17 took the checkered flag.
Pritchett would dominate the race and take the win in this race, but would die after an accident following the checkered flag.
Moments later, their cheers turned to cries of terror.
For some reason, Pritchett’s car and the lap car of Truett Black, from Cornelia, collided in the first turn after the checkered flag. The impact was so great that it wrenched the body off of Black’s automobile, mangling and bending it over the car’s hood.
Pritchett’s car was thrown end over end. The impact apparently caused the support holding Pritchett’s seat belt in place to break, throwing him out of the still tumbling car.
Black, according to a write-up from the May 20, 1947 issue of The Jackson Herald, was taken to an Athens area hospital for care and treatment. He survived his injuries, and passed away sometime in the mid 1980s.
Pritchett's car the day after the accident. Photo was taken in Cornelia, Georgia, near Jack Edward's garage.
Pritchett was still conscious when he was transported to the Commerce Hospital. Harold Pritchett says years later, he would talk to a man who rode in the back of the ambulance with his father. The man told Harold that Swayne asked several times where he had finished in the race, and that he was able to identify himself by saying his name. Harold said he was told that as the ambulance approached the hospital, and trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Pritchett was taken inside the hospital while those that had accompanied or followed the ambulance waited outside. Soon, a nurse came out to tell them Swayne Pritchett had died of internal injuries.
“A lot of people told us that was the last race they ever went to,” Harold Pritchett said.
It was the beginning of some very tragic days for the Jackson County Speedway.