Frank Christian (NASCAR owner)
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Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
| Frank Christian | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1910 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | December 8, 1969 (aged 59) | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 26th (1949) | ||||||
| First race | 1949 Race 2 (Daytona Beach) | ||||||
| |||||||
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]
Christian 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]
As a pioneer in multi-car ownership, Christian would lead the way for the modern day "super teams" like Hendrick Motorsports.[5]
Christian earned $81,285 in monetary prizes as an owner ($954,114.24 when adjusted for inflation) in addition to winning 22 races. Notable drivers under his employment included: Speedy Thompson, Buddy Shuman, Banjo Matthews, Fonty Flock, Gober Sosebee, 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, Christian's 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 Christian's vehicles, as they managed to accumulate 35 pole positions within six years.[1]
