by Royce Radcliffe

Created on: August 05, 2008   Last Updated: November 24, 2008

Whenever knowledgable racing fans start discussing the greatest drivers of all time Ted Horn is always one of the first names to come up. His skill and character were unparalelled in a sport with many great examples of both. Above all his legacy is that of a consistent excellence the likes of which most drivers can only dream.

Ted Horn was born on February 27th, 1910 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a good student whose only bad habit was found once he got his license. You see, Ted was an avid speeder. This habit resulted in one of the more original stories of how a racecar driver found his calling.

Late to school one day, Ted Horn started speeding more than usual. Flying down the road he saw flashing lights in his rearview mirror. After being pulled over the police officer impounded the car and had a truly novel idea for young Horn. He wanted him to go to the local racing track and find a driver willing to let him drive the car around the track until he "got the speed out of his system" before he could get his car back. Horn followed the request but as for losing his need for speed.. it never happened.

He started practicing on a track called Legion Ascot Speedway in California. He was horrible to begin with and suffered various injuries as well. At his parent's urgent behest, he quit the sport. Then a few years later the urge hit him again and this time it would not be silenced.

Upon his return Horn seemed like an entirely different driver. In one race he finished second, almost beating Indy 500 winner Louis Meyer. Then in his first Indy 500, while the media missed his mild heroics, Former star racer Harry Hart saw him do a great job considering his machine's performance that day and decided to stake him as an owner. Ted Horn had already known of Hart and had a great deal of respect for him. They were a perfect team.

After this his success skyrocketed. There was a nine game stretch were he did not finish worse than fourth. He also tothis day enjoys the best ten year streak of finishes in all of Indianapolis 500 history, even though, shockingly, one of the greatest drivers in the sport never won an Indy 500. He won three National Championships and basically dominated his sport to a degree that has been unheard of these past few eras.

However the sad truth is we do not really know how many more records he could have set and broken. He died like so many drivers behind the wheel, in his case in a race in DuQuoin, Illinois on October tenth, 1948. He was injured right before the third lap and taken to the hospital with what the announcers erroneously said were minor wounds. He would die shortly thereafter in the operating room.

No driver has ever matched his ten year streak or his three National Championships in a row. Ted Horn was truly one of the all time racing greats and even though he met with tragedy due to this dangerous sport, he lived in glory because of it as well. Racing fans everywhere are still thanking him for the memories.

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