Cumberland, Md. – If you’ve been around drag strips in this neck of the woods for awhile, odds are you’ve seen the “Hyper” Nova of Richard Horton. It’s a car you can’t forget, but it had some seriously humble roots. According to Richard, “I bought the car in Virginia, paid about $400 for it. I decided to build a race car and so we just tore it up and I put other fenders on it to start with. They were front fenders and put them on the back so they had the same wheel arch, then I later got other panels.” Hearing him recount the tale of this car sounds much like old-school hot rodding at its’ best. But it didn’t stop with the body.

Horton continued, “It was an automatic for years, it was a used motor, and then I built a 410 cu.in. small block and put a four speed in it. I like fuel injection, mechanical, I work on them, and I wired it all up so it’s street legal.” Not to surprising to hear this as I’ve heard from others about how Horton has helped them with fuel injection on their race cars.

I could see him deep in thought, reaching for distant memories of the car. And he didn’t disappoint. “I’ve been running this car since 1990. It’s got more than a thousand runs down at Beaver Springs but I’ve run it at South Mountain, MIR, Manassas, Keystone, Mason Dixon,…I’ve been around a little bit with it, it’s taken a beatin’ let me tell you and I can put it on the bumper yet. There’s marks on the bumper from the wheelie bars hitting it. It’s been up on the bumper in 2^nd gear.”

On this day, “Hyper” is sitting in a car show, yet you don’t have to look to close to see it’s not built for show, it’s built for the go, focused on those quarter-mile excursions. Horton would furthermore clarify this with his memories of the build. “It’s pretty much all basic homemade stuff. In 2013 I built the engine in it. I haven’t had to look in it yet and I’ve never had to look inside my transmission yet. I bought it twenty years ago. I haven’t broken anything. I shift with the clutch, every time I use the clutch. A lot of guys are clutchless, I use a clutch. We just built this in my garage. Brought it in, tore it all apart, and we narrowed the rear end, had a friend help with that, did some of the pipe work, my brother-in-law did a lot of welding for me. A couple other friends they welded. I don’t weld, but I can do wiring, build motors. [It’s] Just an old car I started playing with. I’d never think all these years I’d be still running it. I plan on running it till I’m 90, anyway. I’m going to get my grandson to drive it someday. I have put other people in it to run it down the track when it was an automatic, just to watch it run. It’s been a real good car.”

Horton went on to point out some of the battle scars that separate his car from the show cars nearby. “It’s got beat up marks from the wheelstands, the fenders will jam into the door when you’re up in the air and come down. It’s got all the paint beat up around there. It’s from use. I decided I wanted to make it street legal, so I wired everything up, two-speed wipers and everything. It’s just a toy to play with. I never knew how many car watched this car go down the track. I always thought nobody knew I was here, but a lot of people go ‘oh, I used to watch that car.’ I’m just having fun.”

Of course, having seen the car before it had a name on the side, I had to know more. Horton explained, “Beaver Bob talked me into the lettering on the side. I had hat injection, later I put on the stack injection and Bob said, ‘boy, that looks better. All race cars need to have a name.’ People tell me I’m a little hyper, so I had the stickers made up and put ‘em on. It looks like a race car when you see it.”

Of course, Horton gave a caring glance at his engine, reminiscing about the build. “Dart Heads, Jessel rockers, Harry’s crankshaft, all good parts. That motor cost 10 grand back when I built it counting the injection, now it’s an 18-20 thousand motor. It’s the same rear end housing I started with. I’ve been through a couple sets of axles. I love doing wheelstands.” Anytime you see this car in action, you’ll see just how much he does love doing those wheelstands. And maybe, just maybe, a good wheelstand is the fountain of youth. That one thing that keeps old drag racers young. If you’re lucky, maybe some of that youth will rub off on you!