Frank Christian (NASCAR owner)

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Frank Christian
Born(1910-10-03)October 3, 1910
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedDecember 8, 1969(1969-12-08) (aged 59)
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish26th (1949)
First race1949 Race 2 (Daytona Beach)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0

Frank Christian (October 23, 1910 — December 8, 1969) was a NASCAR race car owner who owned a series of stock car vehicles from 1949 to 1955.[1] Christian finished sixth in his only NASCAR race start (1949-03).[2]

He was also the husband of former NASCAR Grand National Series driver Sara Christian in addition to being a businessman and a provider of illegal alcoholic beverages.[3] During his adult life, he resided in Atlanta, Georgia where he would base his legitimate businessman career from.[4]

Career[edit]

As a pioneer in multi-car ownership, Christian would lead the way for the modern day "super teams" like Hendrick Motorsports.[5]

He earned $81,285 in monetary prizes as an owner ($924,528.52 when adjusted for inflation) in addition to winning 22 races. Notable drivers under his employment included: Speedy Thompson, Buddy Shuman, Banjo Matthews, Fonty Flock, Buck Baker, and Curtis Turner.[1] Christian even did several races as a driver/owner; adding to the lap total of 21,804 that his vehicles did while under his ownership.[1] Out of all these laps, only 5220 were by Mr. Christian's drivers.[1]

However, his vehicles did do well in finishing races as the average starting position was sixth place and the average finishing position was twelfth place.[1] Pole positions were plentiful for Frank Christian's vehicles as they managed to accumulate 35 pole positions within 6 years.[1]

Motorsports career results[edit]

NASCAR[edit]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Strictly Stock Series[edit]

NASCAR Strictly Stock Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NSSC Pts Ref
1949 Frank Christian 37 Olds CLT DAB
6
HBO LAN HAM MAR HEI NWS 26th 100 [6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Frank Christian information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  2. ^ "#37 Frank Christian complete NASCAR career statistics". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  3. ^ "Information about Mrs. Frank (Sara) Christian" (PDF). The Henry Ford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-13. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  4. ^ Freedman, Lew (14 March 2013). Encyclopedia of Stock Car Racing. ISBN 9780313387104. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  5. ^ "Super teams have been around since the beginning". NASCAR.com. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  6. ^ "Frank Christian – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 30, 2019.

External links[edit]