Best finish 64th (1999) Best finish 61st (1997) | Name Ted Christopher Role Racing driver | |
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Achievements 2008 Whelen Modified Tour Champion48 victories in NASCAR modified competition (42 in Whelen Modified; 6 in Southern Modified) First race 1996 Meridian Advantage 200 (Nazareth) | ||
Ted christopher tq twin 20 victory lane at battle of trenton 12 19 14
Theodore "Ted" Christopher (June 5, 1958 – September 16, 2017) was an American racing driver who raced and won in many different types of race cars, including Modifieds, SK Modifieds, ISMA, Camping World East Series, Late Models, Pro Stocks, and Midgets. He also raced in NASCAR's now named Monster Energy Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Camping World Truck Series. He is best known for competing in NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour, where he has over 40 victories and a championship in 2008. He was also well known for his success on the 1.058 mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Christopher has won five Camping World East Series events and 5 Whelen Modified Tour events.
Contents
- Ted christopher tq twin 20 victory lane at battle of trenton 12 19 14
- Pre race ceremony for ted christopher at nlws 9 16 17
- Racing career
- The Three Tap Rule
- Death
- Honors
- NASCAR
- Rolex Sports Car Series
- References
Christopher was an aggressive driver, known for his infamous "Three Tap Rule" when passing cars in front of him, though his driving style changed in his later career and brought more success to his racing career.
Pre race ceremony for ted christopher at nlws 9 16 17
Racing career
2001 NASCAR Weekly Series national champion, winning 15 of the 18 races that he entered, clinching it at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut.
2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion. Christopher, who is known as one of the most accomplished drivers in the Northeast, won both the championship and the final race of the season at Thompson International Speedway. Christopher came into the race leading the championship standings over Matt Hirschman by 31 points. Late in the race, Hirschman suffered an electrical problem, which put him a handful of laps off the pace. Christopher drove on to win the event, with Hirschman finishing 21 laps down in 25th position. It was his 31st career win in his 12th full-time year of competition.
Ironically, three years prior in 2005, Christopher went to the season finale at Thompson holding a 36-point lead over Hirschman's father, five-time tour champion Tony Hirschman, only to lose the championship due to a crash on lap 11.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: . . . 48 Victories (third all-time). Three times voted Most Popular Driver (2008,09,10)
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East: . . . 10 victories.
Stafford (CT) Speedway . . . 131 Feature Race victories (all-time track record). 9 time track champion. Only active driver to ever have a Stafford grandstand named for him.
Thompson (CT) Int'l Speedway . . . 99 Feature Race victories (all-time track record). 4 time track champion.
Waterford (CT) Speedbowl . . . 47 Feature Race victories (third all-time).
In addition to his racing in the Modifieds and Busch North/K&N East, he also attempted numerous Winston/Nextel Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series races in the 2000's. He attempted and qualified for his first Cup race at Watkins Glen in 1999. His last Cup race came in the 2006 Sylvania 300 for Kirk Shelmerdine.
In the NASCAR Busch Series, Christopher competed part time in 1998 with Marsh Racing, competing in three races for the team. Driving the No. 13 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet, Christopher posted a best finish of 10th at Nazareth. In 1999, the team attempted 12 races, again with Christopher driving the car. The team would make five races and post a best finish of 8th at Nazareth.
He also competed for the then new team of Michael Waltrip Racing, competing in three races with the team at Loudon, Watkins Glen, and the inaugural race at Memphis. The last race he competed in was at Nazareth in 2001 with Richard Childress Racing in the All-Star car 21 Rockwell Automation Chevy. He finished 19th two laps down from the winner Greg Biffle.
The "Three Tap Rule"
The three weekly oval tracks in Connecticut use a handicap lineup system that starts the fastest cars deep in the field. A 30 lap feature gives drivers little time to be courteous if they want to win. Throughout his career, Christopher employed an aggressive driving style he referred to as the "Three Tap Rule." A combination of intimidation techniques most famously used by Dale Earnhardt in the NASCAR Cup Series as well as the "chrome horn" and "bump-and-run" techniques commonly employed in short track racing, Christopher uses a trio of taps to coerce a slower competitor into moving over or ultimately moving them himself. The initial tap informs his competitor that he is there, while the second bump is a warning to commit to a lane to let him by. If needed, the third and final tap is the classic bump and run, with Christopher moving the car in front out of his racing groove to move on by.
Death
Christopher was killed in a plane crash in North Branford near the Guilford, Connecticut town line on September 16, 2017, while en route from Robertson Field in Plainville, Connecticut to Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, to compete in a Whelen Modified Tour race that evening at the Riverhead Raceway, in Calverton, New York, on Long Island. Christopher and Charles "Pat" Dundas, the pilot and family friend of Hauppauge, New York, who also died, were the only occupants of the Mooney M20C that went down in a wooded area.
Honors
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Rolex Sports Car Series
(key)