Sara Christian

Born

August 25, 1918
Dahlonega, Georgia

Died

March 7, 1980 (age 61)

Awards

1949 United States Drivers Association Woman Driver of the Year

inducted in the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame in 2004

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career

7 races run over 2 years

Best finish

13th ()

First race

(Charlotte)

Last race

1950 Hamburg (NY) Speedway

Wins	Top tens	Poles
0	2	0

1949 United States Drivers Association Woman Driver of the Year

Sara W. Christian (August 25, 1918 – March 7, 1980) was the first woman driver in NASCAR history.

Christian competed in NASCAR's first race on June 19, 1949 at Charlotte Speedway. She qualified 13th in the #71 Ford owned by her husband Frank Christian. During the race, Bob Flock took over her car after his engine expired on the 38th lap. He drove the car until it overheated, and finished 14th.

Christian 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 finished sixth in his only career start. They became the only married couple to compete in a NASCAR race until 1986 when Patty Moise and Elton Sawyer competed for the first time together in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. Patty and Elton were married in 1990 and continued to compete against one another for years.

Christian finished sixth at the fourth race at Langhorne 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 woman drivers until July 4, 1977 when Janet Guthrie, Christine Beckers and Lella Lombardi all competed in the Firecracker 400.

Christian finished fifth at the ninth race at Heidelberg Raceway in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The finish was the best-ever and only Top 5 finish by a woman in NASCAR series history, though on a regional series level it was eclipsed by Shawna Robinson at the New Asheville Speedway on June 10, 1988, when she won the Charlotte-Daytona Dash (a 4-cylinder class) AC-Delco 100 to become the first woman to win a NASCAR touring series race. Christian's fifth place remains the highest finish by a woman at the Premiership, now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

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Wikipedia