Samuel Francis Belnavis Sr. (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. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. Belnavis, an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, was one of a handful 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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

racing team. He was the head of

Roush Fenway Racing Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, doing business as RFK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ...

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

Education and military service

Samuel Francis Belnavis Sr. was born on August 8, 1939. As a child, Belnavis attended Our Lady of Victory, an all-black parochial school in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. 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 City. The school serves students in grades 9 ...

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

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

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

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He was in

Air Force ROTC The Air Force Reserve Officers' 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 (USAFA ...

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 Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

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, United States. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) and an enclave of ...

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 and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

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 (December 3, 1937 – November 9, 2024) was an 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 ...

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 and 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 ...

, 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 and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, where he founded his own advertising and marketing agency, Belnavis & Associates. Belnavis became NASCAR's first full-time minority owner since

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott Sr. (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was the first African-American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR at its highest level. Scott began his ...

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 U.S. military's reserve components of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force when activated for federal missions.Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American former 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 is curre ...

. 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 NASCAR Driver Development Program (formerly known as 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 ...

program. It went on to field entries including Morty Buckes, Brianne Conrath, and Jesus Hernandez. Belnavis later joined Roush Racing as its director of diversity programs.

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 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 sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American people Businesspeople from Brooklyn