Felix Sabates is a different from all other current owners in Nascar Winston Cup, as he was born in Cuba. When he was sixteen, 1959, Sabetes fled Fidel Castro and ended up in Miami with nothing more then a couple of dollars, some cigars and knew very little English. In 1964, the Catholic Church brought over the rest of the family and moved them to North Carolina.
When he arrived in Charlotte, Sabates started washing and parking cars at the airport. This job led him into car sales and in 1967, he started working for Top Sales as a manufacturer representative. This company made small and inexpensive transistor radios which were then sold to small outlets. Sabetes started selling right away and he showed definite talent as a salesman. Felix moved up the coperate ladder and in 1974 purchased the company. Two major products lead his company to remarkable success, Tedy Ruxpin and Pong.
In 1987, Sabates purchased a Nascar team from Rick Hendrick and Team SABCO was offically started. This was the first team he purchased and continued to expand to other areas. Sabates was also one of the first investors in the World Football League, one of the original owners of the Charlotte Hornets, and owned several other minor league teams. 1 Currently Sabates is partnered with Chip Ganassi and drivers Sterling Marlin, Jimmy Spencer and Jamie McMurray.
1. http://www.chipganassiracingwithfelixsabates.com/cgi-bin/db_searchz.cgi?user_id=43610&database=dbpg_felixsabates.exm&template=tmplt_felixsabates.htm&0=1
Other information came from www.nascar.com