Sam Belnavis

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Sam Belnavis (b. 1940) is an African American executive in automobile racing. He is one of the few minority persons to have owned a NASCAR racing team. He is currently the head of Roush Fenway Racing's driver diversity program, and handles other marketing initiatives for that company.[1]

Contents

[edit] Education and military service

As a child, Belnavis attended Our Lady of Victory, an all-black parochial school in Brooklyn, New York. He then attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, with primarily white students, a very different experience.[2]

Belnavis attended Manhattan College in New York, graduating with a degree in accounting, and got a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.[3] He was in Air Force ROTC in Manhattan College,[2] and served in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot in the 105th Tactical Fighter Wing, located at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.[4]

[edit] Career

After leaving the Air Force, he took a management position at Sears, in 1968.[3] From there, he became a director of sports marketing for Miller Brewing. In 1981, while in that job, he signed Bobby Allison to a sponsorship contract. [4] After working at Miller, Belnavis was hired by DiGard Racing; part of his duties were to push a program to diversify DiGard Racing with an African-American driver.[5]

After DiGard, Belnavis took a position as senior vice-president of sports and entertainment with Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world's largest and advertising firms. In 1991 he relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he founded his own advertising and marketing agency, Belnavis & Associates.[4][3]

In 2003, Belnavis became NASCAR's first full-time minority owner[2] when he fielded BelCar Motorsports' #54 U.S. National Guard Ford Motor Company entry driven by Todd Bodine.[6] In 2004, the team, at the time NASCAR's only minority-owned team, closed when the National Guard elected to sponsor a Roush Racing vehicle instead.[7]

He continues to serves as a team in lower-level NASCAR leagues through the Drive for Diversity program, fielding entries for Morty Buckes, Brianne Conrath, and Jesus Hernandez in the past.

[edit] Personal

Belnavis and his wife Christine have three daughters and his six grandchildren.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Roush Racing Sales Executive Team. Roush Fenway Racing. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  2. ^ a b c African-American History Month event features first black NASCAR owner. U.S. Army. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
  3. ^ a b c d "Samuel Belnavis", bio, Speedway Children's Charities, retrieved January 2, 2008
  4. ^ a b c Lemasters Jr., Ron. "Belnavis, Ribbs leaving their mark on landscape", NASCAR.com, February 16, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 
  5. ^ "DiGard Racing Company History", retrieved January 2, 2008
  6. ^ "Sam Belnavis and Travis Carter Join Forces For 2003", Ford Motor Company, press release, retrieved January 2, 2008
  7. ^ "Minority-owned NASCAR team closes", USA Today, December 18, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-01. 

[edit] External links

"A Conversation with Sam Belnavis", podcast from NASCAR

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