Folks knew him as "Horton Sr," or "Coach", or as I preferred  "Mr. Horton,".... and if you ever spoke to him, you know what a wealth of knowledge stood before you.... having built and owned modifieds from the 60's, right up until just a few years ago.

A partial list of some of those who wheeled Jim Horton cars are Dudie Babey, Mike Grbac, Sammy Beavers, Bobby Pickell, son Jimmy Horton, Stan Ploski, Fritz Epright, and many, many others... 

As if that wasn't enough, Jim surprised the racing world by putting on the racing suit himself and getting behind the wheel of his sportsman racer in the mid 80's, and had a real strong showing in the Rookie Division at Flemington.

Speaking of "Mr. Horton's" son "Jimmy", you can't think of the entire racing career of Jimmy Horton without thinking about the the early years when Jimmy first learned to wrench on a some of those "Horton built" race cars mentioned above, and the lessons learned from his father, and from those he met along the way..... and then applying what he learned to become the car builder and racer who we have all watched for the past 5 decades.  In addition to knowledge from his father, Jimmy also learned the value of hard work. That knowledge.... that hard work... and the deep understanding of the sport, would earn a path all the way to NASCAR for the Horton name.

The Horton's, father and son, at Pocono (6/19/88).    Photo by/provided by Jack Kromer.

As provided to us via text from a post seen on Facebook, Jimmy posted, "We lost my Hero!  My biggest fan & my best friend!  Love you Champ!"

I'm sure that I speak for everyone here on our site that we'll never forget the lifetime contribution to the sport from Mr. Horton.

Our condolences to the Horton Family.  

Obituary/Service Information

Jim Horton Sr also ran at East Windsor Speedway around the same time period. Condolences to his friends and family. 

My Condolences to the Horton family ... R.I.P. Mr. Horton  

Thank You to Jim Horton Sr for all the years of enjoyment of watching all your hard work.  From Dudie Babey to Sammy to Yourself to Bobby.  Godspeed Mr Horton.

Rest in Peace Coach. Thoughts and prayers to all.

Condolences to the Horton family and the friends and fans of Mr. Horton.

A Great guy, I called him Jim, but I always knew him as "The Ole Man". Whenever I knew we weren't racing and my phone rang on a Friday or Saturday morning and saw it was Fritz's number, I knew what was up. Fritz  "Hey Danny, the Ole man just called and asked if we want to go run his car, do you want to go?" and I'd say hell yea! 

He will be missed for sure, He was certainly one of a kind!!!  RIP OLE MAN!

One of the all time great car owners...Even driving himself later in life..and winning.. 

One story I will always remember about him is about 1971/72 at Flemington pits..Mike Grbac was driving his blue 43 coupe and during a red lite in a heat race was parked on the front stretch. .Horton Sr was by the chain link fence lookin out and Grbac yelled out "its running hot".. 

Sr yells back "get out front and keep the dirt out of it"..

That was my first time that I knew who he was.. That will be with me forever...

Im sorry for your loss Jimmy, he was a really great guy...RIP JIM...