| Sam Belnavis | |
| Birth Date: | August 8, 1939 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Roush Fenway Racing Driver Diversity head |
| Known For: | 1st African American premier series NASCAR owner to complete a full season |
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]
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. Belnavis subsequently attended Manhattan College in New York, graduating with a degree in accounting in 1961,[2] later earning a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He was in Air Force ROTC in Manhattan College, 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.
After leaving the Air Force, Belnavis 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 advertising firms. In 1991 he relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he founded his own advertising and marketing agency, Belnavis & Associates.[3] [4]
Belnavis became NASCAR's first full-time minority owner since Wendell Scott in 2003,[6] 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]
Belnavis and his wife Christine had one son, three daughters, and seven grandchildren.[3] He died on July 14, 2021, at the age of 81.[8] [12]