Sara Williams Christian (August 25, 1918 – March 7, 1980) was the first woman driver inNASCAR history.

Christian raced at the Looper Speedway, the former racetrack which now lies beneath the waters ofLake Lanier. She won at least one race there while driving a car belonging to racetrack owner Max Looper. Edwin Looper, Max’s nephew, and former employee recalled that Christian’s victory “made all the men mad too, her being a woman and all, and winning the race.”^[1]

Christian competed in NASCAR's first race on June 19, 1949, atCharlotte Speedway. She qualified 13th in the #71Ford owned by her husbandFrank 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 theDaytona Beach Road Course on July 10, 1949, and finished 18th. The 28 car field also included Flock's sisterEthel Mobley andLouise 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 whenPatty Moise andElton Sawyer competed for the first time together in theNASCAR Busch Grand National Series.^[2] Patty and Elton were married in 1990 and continued to compete against one another for years.

Christian finished sixth at the fourth race atLanghorne Speedway, and became the first woman to earn a Top 10 finish. Race winnerCurtis 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, whenJanet Guthrie,Christine Beckers, andLella Lombardi all competed in the Firecracker 400.

Christian finished fifth at the ninth race atHeidelberg Raceway inPittsburgh, 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 byShawna 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 theNASCAR Cup Series.

Christian raced in six of the eight events in the 1949 season and finished 13th in the final points standings.

Christian competed in one event in 1950, finishing 14th at the 12th race at the Hamburg Speedway before she retired.

• She received the 1949 United States Drivers Association Woman Driver of the Year award.
• She was inducted into theGeorgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.^[3]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Sara Christian driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Photos at Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame
• Fan site at theWayback Machine (archived October 27, 2009)

• 1918 births
• 1980 deaths
• People from Dahlonega, Georgia
• Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state)
• NASCAR drivers
• American female racing drivers
• 20th-century American sportswomen

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