Jimmy Horton

James "Jimmy" Horton III (born July 3, 1956) is a businessman who owns a radiator and chassis shop after a Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame career racing dirt modifieds.^[3] He raced in 48 NASCAR Winston Cup races in eight seasons.^[4] He was a regular on the ARCA circuit in the 1980s and 1990s. Horton has won many of the most noted races for dirt track modifieds in the Northeastern United States.

Jimmy Horton
Born	James Horton III (1956-07-03) July 3, 1956 (age 68) Folsom, New Jersey, U.S.
Modified racing career
Debut season	1972
Car number	43
Wins	457
Championship titles
1989 New York State Fair Champion[1] 2006 Race of Champions Dirt Modified Tour (South)
Awards
1990 EMPA Al Holbert National Driver of the Year[2]
NASCAR Cup Series career
48 races run over 8 years
Best finish	36th (1990)
First race	1987 Miller High Life 500 (Pocono)
Last race	1995 UAW-GM Teamwork 500 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
7 races run over 4 years
Best finish	47th (1987)
First race	1985 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Last race	1989 Gatorade 200 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
ARCA Menards Series career
35 races run over 8 years
First race	1988 Daytona ARCA 200
Last race	1995 Atlanta Motor Speedway
First win	1990 Daytona ARCA 200
Last win	1995 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Wins Top tens Poles 8 15 4

On March 1, 2024, Horton acquired Art's Radiator and Welding in Flemington, New Jersey, a well known sponsor in dirt modifieds and chassis and automotive parts supplier, from the Lentini family.^[5] Art's is a well known sponsor in the region.

Racing career

Horton's No. 3 dirt Modified

Horton's No. 3 dirt Modified

Local racer

Horton first became known as a modified racecar driver in the Northeastern United States. He began racing in a small block powered sportsman car owned by his father, in the early 1970s. He won the sportsman championship at Orange County Speedway in 1974.

He has won a plethora of modified and sportsman championships at numerous tracks. He was the 1976 Modified champion at Orange County driving his dad's No. 43 and won it again in 2017 driving the Halmar Racing No. 43. That season, he was involved in one of the rare dead heat modified feature wins along with fellow future NASCAR racer Tighe Scott. It was the first race of a twin 50 feature and it was too close to call. Scott and Horton's cars collided after the race. After 1976 he started racing in the No. 3 Statewide dirt modified. He won track championships at Bridgeport Speedway (NJ) in 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2003 and, 2014.^[6] Horton won the most races on Bridgeport's 5/8 mile track (before it was reconfigured as a 4/10 mile in 2020).^[7] He is a 2-time winner of the premier race in dirt modified racing, the Super DIRT Week 200 (1987 & 1994). He won the Eastern States 200 in his later career. He won modified track championships at New Egypt Speedway (NJ) in 2004 and 2006.^[8][9] He is still racing in weekly races at as of 2022.^[10]

Horton was inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame in 2017, and into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 2024.^[11][12]

NASCAR

Horton made his first NASCAR start in the Busch Grand National series in 1985.^[4] He raced in seven Busch races in his career.

Most of his career Winston Cup starts were at tracks in the Northeastern United States for underfunded teams, but Horton made two starts (and a relief driver appearance) at Hendrick Motorsports in 1990 when Darrell Waltrip was injured during final practice for the Firecracker 400. Horton's two starts for Hendrick were in the two July restrictor plate races—Daytona and Talladega, and also participated as a relief driver at the second Pocono race. Horton started 41st in the Firecracker (had to move to the rear of the field because of the driver change) at Daytona race, and finished 17th. He finished a career best 13th in the summer race at Talladega, the second of the two races in Hendrick's Tide #17 Chevrolet. (Greg Sacks drove the car, except for Sarel van der Merwe at Watkins Glen, until Darlington, when Waltrip was cleared to return.)

Horton was involved in a major crash during the 69th lap of the 1993 DieHard 500. Horton's car was clipped by Stanley Smith's car. Horton's car hit three other cars before it flew over the wall and landed on an access road outside of the track. Smith suffered near-fatal head injuries in the incident,^[13] while Horton walked out of the wreck virtually unscathed.

ARCA

Horton won numerous ARCA races, including the series premiere event, the Daytona ARCA 200, in 1990 and 1992. The 1992 victory was his seventh superspeedway victory, which at the time was the second most in series history.^[14] He used a NASCAR Chevrolet Lumina purchased from Darrell Waltrip for the victory.^[14] Horton escaped serious injury after a frightening crash at Atlanta in 1995. Horton's #52 AC Delco Chevrolet rolled over during a multi-car accident. His car was struck from the bottom while rolling by teammate Ed Dixon. Incredibly, neither driver was seriously injured.

Personal life

His son Jimmy Horton IV (born March 2, 1987) raced Modifieds for his Grandfather at New Egypt Speedway (NJ) and Bridgeport Speedway (NJ).^[9]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1987	S & H Racing	80	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	NWS	BRI	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	POC 21	RSD	MCH	DAY	POC 33	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	RSD	ATL DNQ					67th	164	[15]
1988				DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL DNQ	DAR 18	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ	CLT 31	DOV 34	RSD	POC 18	MCH DNQ	DAY DNQ	POC 29	TAL	GLN	MCH DNQ	BRI	DAR 37	RCH	DOV 20	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR DNQ	PHO	ATL 32					41st	647	[16]
1989			Pontiac	DAY DNQ	CAR	ATL 13	RCH	DAR 32	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ	CLT	DOV 31	SON	POC 37	MCH	DAY	POC 33	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL					46th	377	[17]
1990			Ford	DAY 37	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ	CLT 23	DOV 20	SON	POC 39	MCH	DAY DNQ																			36th	756	[18]
	Hendrick Motorsports	17	Chevy															DAY 17	POC	TAL 13	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH
	S & H Racing	80	Pontiac																							DOV 30	MAR	NWS				ATL 35
	Group 44	44	Pontiac																										CLT 23	CAR	PHO
1991	S & H Racing	80	Chevy	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR																															NA	-	[19]
			Ford				ATL DNQ	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV DNQ	SON	POC	MCH DNQ	DAY DNQ	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV DNQ	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL
1992	Active Motorsports	32	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL 26	DAR	BRI	NWS DNQ	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV 22	SON	POC 34	MCH 26	DAY	POC 34	TAL	GLN	MCH 38	BRI	DAR	RCH 31	DOV	MAR DNQ	NWS	CLT	CAR 34	PHO	ATL 24					39th	660	[20]
1993				DAY 25	CAR	RCH DNQ	ATL 27	DAR	BRI	NWS DNQ	MAR	TAL 36	SON	CLT 25		POC 37	MCH 41	DAY 38	NHA	POC 26	TAL 39	GLN	MCH 38	BRI	DAR		DOV 22	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR 34	PHO	ATL 38				38th	841	[21]
	Hover Motorsports	80	Ford												DOV DNQ											RCH DNQ
1994				DAY 19	CAR	RCH	ATL DNQ	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL DNQ	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH DNQ	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL			62nd	106	[22]
1995	Junior Johnson & Associates	27	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC 34	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO				61st	61	[23]
	Hendrick Motorsports	58	Chevy																															ATL QL†
1998	ISM Racing	35	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	CLT	DOV	RCH	MCH	POC	SON	NHA	POC DNQ	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	NHA	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	DAY	PHO	CAR	ATL	NA	-	[24]
† - Qualified but replaced by Jeff Purvis

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1988	S & H Racing	Ford	DNQ
1989		Pontiac	DNQ
1990		Ford	40	37
1991		Chevrolet	DNQ
1993	Active Motorsports	Chevrolet	29	25
1994	Hover Motorsports	Ford	28	19

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1985	S & H Racing	85	Pontiac	DAY 41	CAR	HCY	BRI	MAR	DAR	SBO	LGY	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	LGY	HCY	MLW	BRI	DAR	RCH	NWS	ROU	CLT	HCY	CAR	MAR					94th	40	[25]
1986				DAY 15	CAR 30	HCY	MAR	BRI	DAR	SBO	LGY	JFC	DOV	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	RAL	OXF	SBO	HCY	LGY	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	ROU	CLT	CAR	MAR	62nd	191	[26]
1987			Buick	DAY 28	HCY	MAR	DAR 30	BRI	LGY	SBO	CLT 37	DOV	IRP	ROU	JFC	OXF	SBO	HCY	RAL	LGY	ROU	BRI	JFC	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR					47th	204	[27]
1988				DAY DNQ	HCY	CAR	MAR	DAR	BRI	LNG	NZH	SBO	NSV	CLT	DOV	ROU	LAN	LVL	MYB	OXF	SBO	HCY	LNG	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR		NA	-	[28]
1989	Ken Schrader Racing	52	Chevy	DAY	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI	NZH	SBO	LAN	NSV	CLT	DOV	ROU	LVL	VOL	MYB	SBO	HCY	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR 16	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	CAR	MAR			99th	-	[29]

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	AHSSC	Pts	Ref
1988	S & H Racing	80	Ford	DAY 25	ATL	TAL	FRS	PCS	ROC	POC 23	WIN	KIL	ACS	SLM	POC 4	TAL	DEL	FRS	ISF	DSF	SLM	ATL 7			42nd	-	[30]
1989			Pontiac	DAY 5	ATL 18	KIL	TAL 31	FRS	POC 24	KIL	HAG	POC 34	TAL DNQ	DEL	FRS	ISF	TOL	DSF	SLM	ATL 8					28th	-	[31]
1990				DAY 1	ATL 1*	KIL	TAL 1*	FRS	POC 1	KIL	TOL	HAG	POC 1	TAL 36	MCH 31	ISF	TOL	DSF	WIN	DEL	ATL 33				21st	-	[32]
1991			Chevy	DAY 4	ATL 34	KIL																			61st	-	[33]
			Pontiac				TAL 1*	TOL	FRS	POC	MCH	KIL	FRS	DEL	POC	TAL	HPT	MCH	ISF	TOL	DSF	TWS	ATL
1992	Active Motorsports	32	Chevy	DAY 1	FIF	TWS	TAL 38	TOL	KIL	POC	MCH	FRS	KIL	NSH	DEL	POC	HPT	FRS	ISF	TOL	DSF	TWS	SLM	ATL	94th	-	[34]
1993				DAY 37	FIF	TWS	TAL	KIL	CMS	FRS	TOL	POC 2	MCH 27	FRS	POC 19	KIL	ISF	DSF	TOL	SLM	WIN	ATL			44th	-	[35]
1994	Ken Schrader Racing	52	Chevy	DAY	TAL 4						MCH 27	DMS	POC	POC	KIL	FRS	INF	I70	ISF	DSF	TOL	SLM	WIN	ATL 2	53rd	1045	[36]
			Olds			FIF 5	LVL	KIL	TOL	FRS
1995			Chevy	DAY	ATL 1	TAL 39	FIF	KIL	FRS	MCH 8	I80	MCS	FRS	POC	POC	KIL	FRS	SBS	LVL	ISF	DSF	SLM	WIN	ATL 33	42nd	845	[37]

References

1. "Syracuse Mile". The Post-Standard. May 13, 1994. p. 119. Retrieved February 8, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
2. "Al Holbert EMPA National Driver of the Year". Eastern Motorsports Press Association. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
3. Siano, Joseph. "Experience Is Lacking", The New York Times, February 18, 1990. Accessed September 30, 2007. "Last week, the race winner, Jimmy Horton of Folsom, N.J., said the accidents probably were a result of drivers' inexperience at Daytona."
4. Driving statistics, Retrieved September 27, 2007
5. Swanson, Buffy (May 10, 2024). "Jimmy Horton's Ready to Take His Place in the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame". Race Pro Weekly. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
6. Bridgeport Speedway Past Champions (1973-2006) Archived August 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved September 26, 2007
7. "2020 Danny Serrano 100 Weekend". Bridgeport Speedway. September 27, 2020. Event occurs at 3:19. FloRacing.
8. New Egypt Speedway website, Point Champions section of Standings page Archived October 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved September 26, 2007
9. Who's The Next Big Deal in Dirt Modified Racing^{[permanent dead link‍]}; Area Auto Racing News; October 3, 2006; by Brett Deyo; Retrieved September 27, 2007
10. "Bridgeport Speedway 6.28.20 (subscription required)". Speedshift TV. June 28, 2020. FloRacing. Speedshift TV.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
11. Modestino, Lou (October 25, 2017). "Four elected to NY State Stock Car Assn. HOF". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
12. "Horton &Tompkins Selected To NE Dirt Modified Hall of Fame". Speed Sport. January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
13. Zenor, John (June 9, 2001). "Former Winston Cup driver Smith leaves horrid accident in past". Arizona Daily Sun. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
14. Horton Wins At Daytona, February 9, 1992 The New York Times; Retrieved September 26, 2007
15. "Jimmy Horton – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
16. "Jimmy Horton – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
17. "Jimmy Horton – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
18. "Jimmy Horton – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
19. "Jimmy Horton – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
20. "Jimmy Horton – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
21. "Jimmy Horton – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
22. "Jimmy Horton – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
23. "Jimmy Horton – 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
24. "Jimmy Horton – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
25. "Jimmy Horton – 1985 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
26. "Jimmy Horton – 1986 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
27. "Jimmy Horton – 1987 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
28. "Jimmy Horton – 1988 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
29. "Jimmy Horton – 1989 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
30. "Jimmy Horton – 1988 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
31. "Jimmy Horton – 1989 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
32. "Jimmy Horton – 1990 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
33. "Jimmy Horton – 1991 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
34. "Jimmy Horton – 1992 ARCA SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
35. "Jimmy Horton – 1993 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
36. "Jimmy Horton – 1994 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
37. "Jimmy Horton – 1995 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2017.

External links

• Jimmy Horton driver statistics at Racing-Reference