It's been 63 years since the late Sara Christian of Atlanta scored the fist top-10 in NASCAR Cup history by a female driver on September 11, 1949 at Langhorne, Pennsylvania in what was called the Strictly Stock Division by NASCAR that first year.
Driving for husband, Frank Christian, Sara finished 6th, ten laps down to winner Curtis Turner in the 200 lap event on the treacherous Langhorne dirt mile. "Pops" Turner was so impressed that he asked Sara to join him in victory lane. Certainly a different reception than some of the later female drivers in NASCAR received. Never let it be said that Virginian Turner didn't practice southern chivalry. Louise Smith and Ethel Flock Mobley were also in the field that day.
Above - Sara Christian in Frank Christian's #71 - NASCAR Photo Archive
Above - Sara Christian & Hershel McGriff - Legends of NASCAR Photo Archive
NOTE: Photo above was taken in 1954 after Hershel scored one of his 4 1954 Cup wins in Sara's husband's car - See photo below of Hershel with the #14 car and the Dahlonega, Georgia affiliations on the car:
Earlier in 1949 Sara and husband Frank became the first and to date ONLY husband/wife duo to start a NASCAR Cup race when they both competed at Daytona. I no longer recall, but does anyone remember if Elton Sawyer and wife, Pattie Moise raced together in Busch/Nationwide after they married?
On Columbus Day ( October 12 ) 1949, Sara finished 5th at Pittsburgh's Heidelberg Raceway, STILL the best finish by a female driver in NASCAR's top series.
Sara ran just 1 race in 1950 and retired. She scored one top-5 and two top-10s in her six 1949 rookie season starts. Just for the sake of stirring the pot, Danica Patrick is scheduled for her 6th start this Saturday night in Richmond. To date, she has zero top-5s and zero top-10s.
Results 1st Female NASCAR Top-10 Finish BY Female Driver (Racing Reference)
NASCAR Strictly Stock race number 4 of 8
September 11, 1949 at Langhorne Speedway, Langhorne, PA
200 laps on a 1.000 mile dirt track (200.0 miles)
Time of race: 2:52:54
Average Speed: 69.403 mph
Pole Speed: 77.482 mph
Margin of Victory: 20 sec
Attendance: 20,000
Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
1 11 41 Curtis Turner Hubert Westmoreland '49 Oldsmobile 200 2,250 running 60
2 6 7 Bob Flock Bob Flock Garage (Frank Christian) '49 Oldsmobile 200 1,000 running 1
3 1 22 Red Byron Parks Novelty (Raymond Parks) '49 Oldsmobile 199 800 running
4 33 44 Frank Mundy Sam Rice '49 Cadillac 196 500 running
5 4 46 Bill Blair Sam Rice '49 Cadillac 196 350 running
6 21 71 Sara Christian Frank Christian '49 Oldsmobile 190 300 running
7 25 42 Lee Petty Petty Enterprises '49 Plymouth 188 250 running
8 22 89 Al Keller W.O. Taylor '49 Ford 185 200 running
9 17 6 Al Bonnell Don Rogalla '48 Oldsmobile 183 150 running
10 34 52 Lou Volk '47 Buick 182 125 running
11 41 61 Bill Bennett '49 Kaiser 181 100
12 30 39 Budd Olsen Walt Frank '49 Mercury 180 75
13 26 14 Dick Zimmerman Don Gallagher '47 Mercury 178 50
14 23 59 Bill Rexford Julian Buesink '49 Ford 177 50
15 40 23 Erwin Blatt '46 Ford 176 50
16 38 94 Louise Smith Louise Smith '47 Ford 175 50
17 44 4 Don Cecchini '49 Nash 173 50
18 28 48 Lee Schmidt Lee Schmidt '49 Buick 171 50 crash
19 2 50 Gober Sosebee Cherokee Garage (Leon Chester) '49 Oldsmobile 170 100
20 9 25 Ken Marriott Moyer Co. Special (Dailey Moyer) '49 Lincoln 169 50
21 12 62 Ed Tyson Hudler Motor Co. '49 Ford 169 50
22 37 77 Ken Schroeder Ken Schroeder '49 Buick 168 50
23 24 91 Tommy Coates W.O. Taylor '49 Ford 167 50
24 8 8 Wally Campbell Wally Marks '49 Oldsmobile 166 25
25 31 86 Harvey Hilligas '49 Ford 162 25
26 35 20 Dick Linder LaBelle Motors '49 Kaiser 162 25
27 39 31 Ben Cannizzaro '46 Ford 159 25
28 45 9 Len Brown Len Brown '47 Ford 158 25
29 19 13 Pat Kirkwood Pat Kirkwood '49 Oldsmobile
30 14 2 Jimmie Lewallen Sam Rice '49 Lincoln
31 5 90 Tim Flock Buddy Elliott '49 Oldsmobile wheel
32 13 32 Jim Rathmann '49 Oldsmobile
33 15 88 Pepper Cunningham Pepper Cunningham '49 Lincoln 134 crash
34 32 35 John Belgard John Belgard '47 Ford
35 10 27 Buckshot Morris Frank Christian '49 Oldsmobile
36 7 3 Johnny Rogers Anthony Davella '49 Oldsmobile
37 36 69 Chick DiNatale '46 Ford 96 crash
38 18 51 Jack O'Brien Rocco Janette '47 Buick
39 27 73 Tony Genove '47 Hudson
40 43 11 Jim Delaney '49 Ford
41 20 5 Felix Wilkes Felix Wilkes '49 Lincoln
42 29 43 Jack Russell Ken Whitney '48 Ford
43 16 49 Walter Minx '49 Buick 25 crash
44 42 92 Ethel Mobley Charles Mobley '48 Cadillac
45 3 47 Fonty Flock Ed Lawrence '49 Buick 2 engine
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
