FANTASY NASCAR Racin

FELIX SABATES – 09-09-1945 -
is a Cuban-born entrepreneur and philanthropist living in the United States. As of 2018 he is currently a partner in Chip Ganassi Racing teams, which fields teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (as Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the IZOD IndyCar Series. Sabates previously owned his own NASCAR team, SABCO Racing, until the end of the 2000 season when Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates became partners. Sabates, was the oldest of seven, three boys and four girls. As a youth and growing up in Cuba before Fidel Castro’s regime conquered the Island. After being stripped of their wealth, their assets confiscated and faced with the struggles of Communism, the Sabates family slowly migrated to the United States. The effects of Castro's new imposed laws of forbidding Cubans from leaving communism; forced

the family to strategically and intelligently escape the Castro regime at different times. At age 15, Felix was the first member of the family to enter The United States. An American-based Catholic charity, active throughout Cuba before and after the Castro takeover, established Lexington, North Carolina as a resettlement site for Cuban refugees who fled the new regime. The Sabates' were among the new arrivals to that city. In Lexington, Sabates began working 12-hour shifts in a furniture factory, sanding furniture to help support the family. One year later he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and began working at National Car Rental as a parking lot attendant and washing cars at the Charlotte Airport. While washing cars and starting a family, Felix kept his eyes open for opportunities to better himself and provide for his growing family. Seeing such an opportunity, Felix creatively persuaded the local City Chevrolet car dealership to give him a shot at selling cars. Although the dealership was not hiring,

Sabates offered to work for free on the condition that if he out sells the other salesman within a month, that he would be compensated and offered a permanent sales position. Sabates was successful with record car sales. When a local newspaper article had recounted this story about the top salesman, it caught the eye of a local businessman who proceeded to offer him a different sales position with potential growth as a manufacturer's representative. After he accepted a position as a salesman for Top Sales Company (TSC), in 1969 at the age of 25 he was able to parlay his sales success into the purchase of the company in 1971. Early products distributed by TSC included Atari game consoles and Teddy Ruxpin teddy bears. At its peak, TSC became the largest, most

successful manufacturer’s representative company in the United States with over $12 billion in sales. In the 1980s, Sabates established himself in another area of the business world - professional sports. In 1987, he joined the NASCAR motor sports elite with his purchase of a Hendrick Motorsports research and development team from a popular Charlotte businessman, Rick Hendrick (who also owns Chevrolet dealerships). SABCO Racing was founded and a new NASCAR Winston Cup competitor entered the scene. For Sabates, it was just the beginning of a long, successful career in the NASCAR circuit that includes building one of the most visible and respected of all NASCAR Cup teams. He started with the hiring of driver Kyle Petty in 1989 (he was a huge fan of his father, Richard Petty). In 1992, Sabates' team branched out into the Busch Series. Petty found his groove in the Winston Cup

circuit, finishing in the top-five in the final point standings for the season. The team fielded both cars in the Cup circuit the following year and Petty again finished top-five in total points. As many more successful years followed, SABCO Racing changed to Team SABCO at the beginning of the 1996 season. Sabates expanded his operation and became a multi-team power-house. During those years, many famous drivers and sponsors would change hands for Team Sabco. Drivers included Sterling Marlin, Kenny Irwin Jr, Kenny Wallace, Bobby Hamilton, Joe Nemechek and Martin Truex to name just a few. In 2001, Ganassi bought 80% of the ownership interest in the then-two-car team; the same year the team switched from Chevy to Dodge, with the latter reentering NASCAR competition that season