Sam Belnavis (August 8, 1939 – July 14, 2021) was an American executive in

automobile racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...

. Belnavis, an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, was one of comparatively few ethnic minorities to have owned a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

racing team. He was the head of

Roush Fenway Racing Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics * Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana *J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a res ...

's driver diversity program, and handled other marketing initiatives for that company.

Education and military service

As a child, Belnavis attended Our Lady of Victory, an all-black parochial school in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

. He then attended

Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School is a private, Roman Catholic, co-educational, college-preparatory high school located at 357 Clermont Avenue in the Ft. Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The school serves students in grades 9 thro ...

, with primarily white students, a very different experience. Belnavis subsequently attended

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was ...

in New York, graduating with a degree in accounting in 1961, later earning a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He was in

Air Force ROTC The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) is one of the three primary commissioning sources for officers in the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, the other two being the United States Air Force Academy (USAF ...

in Manhattan College, and served in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

as a pilot in the 105th Tactical Fighter Wing, located at

Lackland Air Force Base Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Bexar County, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of the city of S ...

in Texas.

Career

After leaving the Air Force, Belnavis took a management position at

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...

in 1968."Samuel Belnavis"
, bio, Speedway Children's Charities, retrieved January 2, 2008. From there, he became a director of sports marketing for

Miller Brewing The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the ...

. In 1981, while in that job, he signed

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...

to a sponsorship contract. 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. After DiGard, Belnavis took a position as senior vice-president of sports and entertainment with

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...

, one of the world's largest advertising firms. In 1991 he relocated to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, where he founded his own advertising and marketing agency, Belnavis & Associates. Belnavis became NASCAR's first full-time minority owner in 2003, when he fielded BelCar Motorsports' #54

U.S. National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and current raci ...

. He quit BelCar Racing at the conclusion of the season, but continued to serve in lower-level NASCAR leagues through the

Drive for Diversity The Drive for Diversity (D4D) program is a development system instituted by the American auto racing league NASCAR. The program's purpose is to attract minority and female individuals to the sport, primarily as drivers, but also including ownersh ...

program. It went on to field entries including Morty Buckes,

Brianne Conrath Brianne is a given name variant of Brianna. Notable people with the name include: * Brianne Berkson (born 1985), American actress * Brianne Davis (born 1982), American actress * Brianne Desa (born 2000), Canadian-Guyanese footballer * Brianne How ...

, and Jesus Hernandez. Belnavis later joined Roush Racing as its director of diversity programs. In 2004, the BelCar Racing team, at the time NASCAR's only minority-owned team, closed when the National Guard elected to sponsor a Roush Racing vehicle instead.

Personal life

Belnavis and his wife Christine had one son, three daughters, and seven grandchildren. He died on July 14, 2021, at the age of 81.

References

External links

"A Conversation with Sam Belnavis"
podcast from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belnavis, Sam 1940 births 2021 deaths People from Brooklyn African-American motorsport people Manhattan College alumni NASCAR team owners Ross School of Business alumni Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School alumni United States Air Force officers 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people