Sox grew up in Burlington, North Carolina, where his family operated a Sinclair service station on Church Street. His introduction to motorsport came through grassroots drag racing in the 1950s when the Police Club of Burlington began hosting events at a local airport. Those early experiences on North Carolina airstrips planted the foundation for a career that would span nearly two decades of top-level competition.
Sox began making his name at tracks across North Carolina before breaking onto the national stage in the 1960s. In 1963 he raced a Chevrolet, then moved to a factory-sponsored Mercury Comet for the 1964 season, competing in the A/FX class under Mercury's backing. The following year he piloted an altered-wheelbase Plymouth, and in 1966 he opened the season in an injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car — a configuration that was rapidly evolving the sport's machinery.
As Pro Stock emerged as drag racing's premier doorslammer class, Sox transitioned fully into the category driving Plymouths. He and Buddy Martin had initially been rivals: Martin recognised that he could not beat Sox on the strip and approached him to drive Martin's cars instead. The partnership proved transformative for both men. The Sox & Martin combination dominated the early Pro Stock era, with Sox posting nine victories in just 23 events during the 1970–72 "four-speed era" — a period defined by manual-transmission machinery and often regarded as the golden age of doorslammer racing. Sox also ran "Clinic" cars with Plymouth branding, demonstrating vehicles at promotional events.
Later in his career Sox drove a Mercury Comet in IHRA Pro Modified competition before stepping away from racing entirely.
Over the course of his career Sox claimed five NHRA national championships and more than 59 event wins. His win rate during the four-speed Pro Stock era — nine victories in 23 starts — stood as a benchmark for the class's most competitive period. In 2000 the NHRA named Sox 15th on its list of the top 50 drivers from 1951 through 2000, a ranking that placed him among the most consequential figures in the organisation's history.
Sox died of prostate cancer on April 22, 2006, in Richmond, Virginia, at the age of 67. The following year, in 2007, he was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America alongside Buddy Martin, cementing the partnership's place in American motorsport history. The Sox & Martin team name endures as shorthand for the era when Pro Stock racing crystallised into a discipline of its own, and their combined record remains a reference point for measuring achievement in the class.