CONCORD, N.C. — Growing up in Lenoir, North Carolina helped shape Phil Horton’s life and career.
“I was a big NASCAR fan growing up," Horton told WCNC Charlotte's Nick Sturdivant. "My family owned a service station there in the Freedman Community. We were car people. I still am."
However, for Horton, the road to racing started at a different track.
“I was a two-mile runner in high school. I was pretty good. I finished 8th in state,” he said.
In 1983, Horton graduated from North Carolina A&T State University. Not only did Horton earn his degree, but he also received mentorship as a young athletic trainer.
“I had a mentor by the name of Tom Bynum, who was very instrumental in my development and my growth,” Horton said.
Horton, affectionately known as "Coach Phil," would go on to become a graduate assistant football athletic trainer at Michigan State University.
“I got a chance to work with a defensive coordinator by the name of Nick Saban. I went on to become head football trainer at the University of Memphis and then to the Milwaukee Bucks,” he shared.
Horton's athletic training journey would lead him back to a big part of his childhood in the late 1990s.
“(I) moved back home, but I already started my company, athletic training concepts and picked up Ernie Irvan,” he stated.
Horton became a pit crew coach. He was instrumental in introducing his philosophy of developing athletes, rather than traditional mechanics, to work on cars during races.
He would go on to eventually train aspiring pit crew members through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.
“It’s honestly a dream come true for me,” Keiston France said.
France, who also took a unique path, is a product of the program.
“You think of football players, basketball players, wrestlers, baseball players,” he listed as he smiled.
France is a former collegiate tennis player and a graduate of NC A&T State University.
“They view us as soft and I disagree,” France said laughing.
But France said he’s always had his sights set on a career in NASCAR.
“I would tell friends all the time in high school, 'Yeah, I’m going to become a tire changer one day. I’m going to go pit a race car' and they were like 'What?'” France shared.
Now, he’s living his dream as a tire changer for Team Penske.
“I definitely was adamant about becoming a pit crew member, but I still had to do the work,” he said.
His was a dream that was shaped by Horton’s passion.
“To have been a part of it and to have actually made a contribution to the sport, I couldn’t have imagined such a thing,” Horton said.
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