Lloyd was born in Manchester, England, and began kart racing at the age of nine, competing in the British Super One Championship and European championships. He became the British Open Champion in kart racing in 1999 at the age of fourteen. In 2000, he began testing Formula Ford cars.
In 2001, Lloyd transitioned to Formula Ford racing, securing a second-place finish at a European Championship round at Spa-Francorchamps and thirteenth place in the Formula Ford Festival. He also finished third in the Formula Renault UK Winter Series. He moved to the main Formula Renault series in 2002, finishing ninth in the championship.
During 2003, Lloyd was awarded the BRCD McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year, following a second-place finish in the Formula Renault UK championship, ahead of James Rossiter and Mike Conway. In 2004, he conducted his first Formula One test in a McLaren as part of his prize.
Lloyd struggled to find financial backing in 2005, participating in two Italian Formula 3000 races and a single Formula Renault 3.5 Series event at Monaco. He was signed to drive for Team Great Britain in A1 Grand Prix for the 2005–06 winter season, but only undertook one mid-season drive.
In 2006, Lloyd joined AFS Racing in the Indy Pro Series, qualifying second for his first race at St. Petersburg and finishing third in his second. He achieved his first win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, the first for AFS Racing, and later won the Valley of the Moon 100 at Infineon Raceway, finishing seventh in the final standings.
The 2007 Indy Pro Series season proved dominant for Lloyd, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. He won the first five races and clinched the championship with his eighth win at Infineon Raceway, with two races remaining. He set league records for consecutive wins (five), wins in a season (eight), career wins (ten), and total points scored (652). He became the first driver to win on both the road course and the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a feat later matched by Will Power in 2018.
Following this success, Chip Ganassi Racing signed Lloyd to their driver development program on 17 October 2007. Despite limited funding, he participated in select IndyCar Series and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype races in 2008, along with IndyCar testing. He partnered with Rahal Letterman Racing for the 2008 Indianapolis 500, qualifying nineteenth after a crash during rookie tests. He crashed again towards the end of the race, sliding through the pit road.
In 2009, Lloyd returned to the Indianapolis 500 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, sponsored by HER Energy Drink and sporting a distinctive pink firesuit, earning him the nickname “Pink Lloyd.” He qualified eleventh and finished thirteenth, losing a lap due to a pit stop for a broken rear signal light.
Lloyd’s IndyCar career continued in 2010 with Dale Coyne Racing, where he achieved his best IndyCar result, finishing fourth in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. He also won the Firestone tire-ific Move of the Race at Texas and was named Rookie of the Year. In 2011, he raced for Dale Coyne Racing again, contesting all oval races on the IndyCar Series schedule.
Lloyd competed in three Pirelli World Challenge GT class races in 2014, driving a Corvette Z06 for CRP Racing, and won a B-Spec class rally at the Lake Superior Performance Rally. He also secured victory in the 2014 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race with Davidson Racing, sharing a BMW-powered Norma with Randy Pobst, Kyle Marcelli, and Brian Frisselle, becoming the first team to win the event in an ESR class machine.
Since 2012, Lloyd has reviewed production cars for publications including Jalopnik, Automobile Magazine, Road & Track, and Yahoo Autos, and was employed as Editor-at-Large for Yahoo Autos. He now produces dance music under the alias “Mr Lloyd.”
Lloyd is married to two-time Olympian Mariya Koroleva, who competed in synchronized swimming at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Lloyd also has four children. His second oldest, Bethany, was due to be born on 24 May 2009, the same day Lloyd was scheduled to race in the Indianapolis 500, generating significant media attention.
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