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Sara Christian
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Sara Christian (1918 — 1980) was the first woman driver in NASCAR history.
competed in NASCAR's first race on June 19, 1949 at Charlotte Speedway (not Lowe's Motor Speedway). She qualified 13th in the #71 Ford owned by her husband Frank Christian. She let Bob Flock drive the car part way through the race after his engine expired on the 38th lap. He drove the car until it overheated, and finished 14th.
She competed in the second race at the Daytona Beach Road Course on July 10 1949, and finished 18th.
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Encyclopedia
Sara Christian (1918 — 1980) was the first woman driver in NASCAR history.
Driving career
1949
She competed in NASCAR's first race on June 19, 1949 at Charlotte Speedway (not Lowe's Motor Speedway). She qualified 13th in the #71 Ford owned by her husband Frank Christian. She let Bob Flock drive the car part way through the race after his engine expired on the 38th lap. He drove the car until it overheated, and finished 14th.
She competed in the second race at the Daytona Beach Road Course on July 10 1949, and finished 18th. The 28 car field also included Flock's sister Ethel Mobley and Louise Smith which made it the first race to include three woman drivers. Frank also competed in the race, and they became the only married couple to compete in a NASCAR race. Frank finished sixth in his only career start.
She finished sixth at the fourth race at Langhorn Speedway, and became the first woman to earn a Top 10 finish. Race winner Curtis Turner invited Christian to join him in victory lane. Mobley and Smith again competed against Christian in the race, and it was the last NASCAR race to have three women drivers until July 4, 1977 when Janet Guthrie, Christine Beckers and Lella Lombardi all competed in the Firecracker 400.
She finished fifth at the ninth race at Heidelberg Raceway in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The finish was the only Top 5 finish by a woman in NASCAR history .
She raced in six of the eight events in the 1949 season, and finished 13th in the final points standings.
1950
She competed in one event in 1950. She finished 14th at the 12th race at the Hamburg (NY) Speedway before she retired.
Awards
- She was inducted in the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.
- She received the 1949 United States Drivers Association Woman Driver of the Year.
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