Ted Christopher

Ted Christopher
File:TedChristopherBobbyAllison.jpg Christopher with Bobby Allison in 2008.
Born	(1958-06-05) June 5, 1958 Plainville, Connecticut
Achievements	2008 Whelen Modified Tour Champion 48 victories in NASCAR modified competition (42 in Whelen Modified; 6 in Southern Modified)
NASCAR Cup Series career
6 races run over 5 years
Best finish	64th (1999)
First race	1999 Frontier @ the Glen (Watkins Glen)
Last race	2006 Sylvania 300 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
21 races run over 6 years
Best finish	61st (1997)
First race	1996 Meridian Advantage 200 (Nazareth)
Last race	2001 Nazareth 200 (Nazareth)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
2 races run over 2 years
Best finish	88th (1999)
First race	1997 Parts America 150 (Watkins Glen)
Last race	1999 Bully Hill Vineyards 150 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of September 3, 2014.

Ted Christopher (Born June 5, 1958), occasionally referred to as "Teddy" Christopher, is an American racing driver who has raced and won in many different types of race cars, including Modifieds, SK Modifieds, Camping World East Series, Late Models, Pro Stocks, Midgets, and Supermodifieds. He has also raced in NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, and Craftsman 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 is also well known for his success on the 1.058 mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Christopher has won 5 Camping World East Series events and 5 Whelen Modified Tour events.

Christopher is an aggressive driver, known for his infamous "Three Tap Rule" when passing cars in front of him, though his driving style has changed in recent years and has brought more success to his racing career.

Racing career

Christopher won the 2001 NASCAR Weekly Series national championship in 2001 by winning 15 of the 18 races that he entered at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut.

In 2008, Christopher won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship for the first time. Christopher, who is known as one of the most accomplished drivers in the Northeast, had never won the Whelen Modified Tour championship. He did so in fashion, winning both the championship and the final race of the season, at Thompson International Speedway. It came in his 12th full-time year of competing on the tour. It was Christopher's 31st career win on the tour. 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.

Ironically, in 2005, Christopher went to the season finale at Thompson holding a 36-point lead over Matt Hirschman's father, five-time tour champion Tony Hirschman, only to lose the championship due to a lap 11 crash.

The "Three Tap Rule"

Throughout his career, Christopher has employed a physical driving style commonly 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 is to inform his competitors that he is there, while the second bump is a warning to commit to a lane to let him by. The third and final tap is the classic bump and run, with Christopher moving the car in front out of his racing groove to mow on by.

Honors

• As part of the 25th anniversary of the NASCAR Weekly Series in 2006, Christopher was named one of the series' All Time Top 25 drivers.
• In 2008 Stafford Motor Speedway named a section of their grandstand for him in honor of his 100th victory at Stafford. Christopher, who currently has 109 victories at the prestigious and storied Connecticut oval, is Stafford's all-time winningest driver.
• Christopher was the first driver to win SK modified track championships at all three Connecticut NASCAR Whelen All-American Series asphalt, oval short-tracks (Stafford Motor Speedway, Thompson International Speedway, and the Waterford Speedbowl) during his career. The feat was later accomplished by Keith Rocco in 2010, the year he won his first SK Modified Championship at Waterford after multiple titles at the other two.
• His twin brother Mike Christopher won before Ted did at Stafford. Also, the two started out racing go karts around Connecticut and the U.S. They were famous at The Pomfret Speedway in Pomfret, CT. Ted and Mike also racing road racing with enduro karts at Daytona International Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Watkins Glen and many others.