Sam Belnavis (August 8, 1939 – July 14, 2021) was an American executive in automobile racing. Belnavis, an African-American, was one of a handful minorities to have owned a NASCAR racing team. He was the head of Roush Fenway Racing's driver diversity program, and handled other marketing initiatives for that company. ^[1]

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 subsequently attended Manhattan College in New York, graduating with a degree in accounting in 1961, ^[3] later earning a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. ^[4] 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. ^[5]

Career

After leaving the Air Force, Belnavis took a management position at Sears in 1968. ^[4] 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. ^[5] 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. ^[6]

After DiGard, Belnavis took a position as senior vice-president of sports and entertainment with Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world's largest advertising firms. In 1991 he relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he founded his own advertising and marketing agency, Belnavis & Associates. ^{[4] [5]}

Belnavis became NASCAR's first full-time minority owner since Wendell Scott in 2003, ^[2] when he fielded BelCar Motorsports' #54 U.S. National Guard Ford Motor Company entry driven by Todd Bodine. ^[7] He quit BelCar Racing at the conclusion of the season, but continued to serve in lower-level NASCAR leagues through the Drive for Diversity program. ^[8] It went on to field entries including Morty Buckes, Brianne Conrath, and Jesus Hernandez. ^{[9] [10]} Belnavis later joined Roush Racing as its director of diversity programs. ^[11]

Personal life

Belnavis and his wife Christine had one son, three daughters, and seven grandchildren. ^[4] He died on July 14, 2021, at the age of 81. ^{[8] [12]}

References

External links

• "A Conversation with Sam Belnavis", podcast from NASCAR