Ted Christopher

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, ISMA, Camping World East Series, Late Models, Pro Stocks, and Midgets. 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.

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

In 2008, Christopher won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship. 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. 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.

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.

• 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.

• Schaefer, Paul. Where Stars Are Born: Celebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly Racing. Coastal 181, Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA, 2006. ISBN 0-9789261-0-2. pp. 163-170.

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

Rolex Sports Car Series

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2006	DP	59	Brumos Racing	Porsche DP	João Barbosa J. C. France Hurley Haywood	559	54	18
2008	DP	3	Southard Motorsports	Lexus Riley DP	Shane Lewis Bill Lester Alex Barron	527	42	17