'I raised a good son': James Fox was 'everyone's rock' before fatal Southern Raceway crash

A son. A father. A racer. That's the legacy 33-year-old James Fox left behind after a medical-emergency-induced crash claimed his life.

Fox, who grew up in Navarre, was racing at the Southern Raceway in Milton on Aug. 10 when he suffered what first responders called a "medical emergency," causing him to crash into the concrete barrier wall that surrounded the track. Medical personnel flew him to Sacred Heart Hospital where he later died.

Fox's mother, Sherry, told the News Journal that her son suffered from a heart condition that caused the medical emergency on the track.

"I don't know exactly the term, because I don't know doctor talk, but I know it was his heart," Sherry Fox told the News Journal. "Me and his dad have a heart condition, but I really didn't think him being so young it would've took him so fast."

Despite his death at only 33, Sherry Fox says her son's impact on those closest to him is unmatched, leaving behind an abundance of friends even she didn't know about until she received upwards of 1,000 messages from people who knew her son.

"I didn't know he had so many friends until this (incident), but they've been contacting me and he's touched a lot of people," Sherry Fox said.

"He's a rock. He's everyone's rock," she added. "Everybody loved him."

Although James Fox was born in Kansas and was a Kansas City Chiefs fan, Sherry Fox says her son was a Southern boy at heart and grew up in Navarre, eventually graduating from Navarre High School.

Nothing could quell his love for racing.

He participated in his first race at 14 years old at Southern Raceway, and Sherry Fox says he lived on the track, especially after his son Dakota began racing.

"(Dakota) was racing since he was 7," Sherry Fox said. "So he and his son raced in the same class, in the same kind of car."

James Fox would race No. 29 alongside Dakota, now 15, who raced as No. 724.

Dakota is one of James Fox's seven children; however, despite most of his children being step-children, Sherry Fox said her son never said the word "step" – they were his children and he was their dad.

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That large family will be honored before James Fox's Aug. 31 funeral, according to Southern Raceway. The track has put together a racecar procession that will follow behind the 33-year-old's family, driving from Southern Raceway to the location of his funeral at 8951 Fortune Road.

"I want (the community) to remember how he helped you," Sherry Fox said. "The day he came to you after you asked him to help you and he did, or anything he said to that you took to heart and it made you feel good about my son, I want you to remember that always and forever.

"I raised a good son," she added. "It makes me feel really, really good that I did it right."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 'I raised a good son': James Fox was 'everyone's rock' before fatal Southern Raceway crash