How Racer Sara Christian Made NASCAR Take Notice in 1949

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• Sara Christian's 13th-place finish in the 1949 NASCAR points standings remain the best by a woman in NASCAR’s premier series.

• Christian's fifth-place finish in the October 1949 event at Heidelberg Raceway, a half-mile dirt track in Pittsburgh, Pa., is also the best finish for a woman in the series.

• Today, her and her husband and NASCAR team owner Frank Christian are the only couple in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame headquartered in Dawsonville, Ga.

Decades before the Internet and social media, Sara Christian made her mark in stock car racing, recording accomplishments more than 70 years ago that remain today.

NASCAR was only a year old when it inaugurated its Strictly Stock, now Cup, Series. Thirty-three drivers showed up for the series’ first race in Charlotte, N.C., that hot June day in 1949 and Sara was one of them, the only woman in the field. With her husband Frank Christian serving as her car owner and crew chief, she qualified 13th and was credited with a 14th-place finish even though Bob Flock relief drove for her during the 197-lap race on the three-quarter-mile dirt track. Under NASCAR rules, the driver who starts the race is credited with the finish.

Sara went on to compete in a total of six of the eight races that comprised the Cup series inaugural season. Her 13th-place finish in the 1949 driver points standings remain the best by a woman in NASCAR’s premier series as does her fifth-place finish in the October 1949 event at Heidelberg Raceway, a half-mile dirt track in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Danica Patrick’s fourth-place finish at Las Vegas in 2011 came in the Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series when she drove for JR Motorsports. That is the best finish by a woman in NASCAR’s three national touring series.

Still, Sara’s performance and accomplishments for the era in which she raced were outstanding. Today, her and her husband are the only couple in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame headquartered in Dawsonville, Ga. She was inducted in 2004 for her driving accomplishments, while he was in the 2013 class for his achievements as a car owner.

Even though Sara competed in the old barrel racing at the Jacksonville, Fla., beaches in 1941, her brief but skillful racing career didn’t begin until shortly after World War II. By 1948, she was racing at several local tracks in the Atlanta area. One of those tracks was Looper Speedway, which now rests under Lake Lanier near Gainesville, Ga.

Mike Bell, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame’s historian, said Bobby Whitmire competed against Sara in a Modified race at the now-flooded dirt track. That day she won her heat race and the feature.

“Bobby Whitmire told me he had the best seat in the house until his car quit on him and he wound up in the pits, standing on top of his car watching her win,” Bell said.