Felix Sabates
Encyclopedia
Felix Sabates is an entrepreneur
and philanthropist
living in the United States
. He is currently a minority shareholder in Chip Ganassi Racing
, which fields teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
), GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series
and the IZOD IndyCar Series. Sabates previously owned his own NASCAR team, Team SABCO Racing, until the end of the 2000 season when Chip Ganassi
bought a majority stake in the team. Sabates' name was then added to Ganassi's open-wheel operations.
before Fidel Castro
's regime conquered the Island, Felix remembers his fortunate and blessed lifestyle. Sabates’ hard-working and prosperous Cuban parents had established great wealth and prestige through wise investing and a variety of businesses which carried their family name. The successful business included Sabates import and export, Sabates jewelry and Sabates optical stores, Sabates insurance, sugar, cattle, service stations and pharmacies. Suddenly, at the age of 15, everything changed when Fidel Castro
and his guerillas seized government control, establishing a communist dictatorship
still in existence today. The family businesses were seized by the government and they lost all of their personal possessions to the hands of Fidel Castro. After being stripped of their wealth and faced with the struggles of Communism, the Sabates family migrated to the United States
. The effects of Castro’s new imposed laws, the family strategically and intelligently escaped the Castro regime at different times. At age 15, Felix was the first member of the family to enter The United States. Soon after his arrival; he was reunited by his mother and six young brothers and sisters.
Forbidden to leave the country, it was many years later before Dr. Sabates Sr. was allowed to join his exiled family in America
. Responsibility to help support his mother and siblings fell on the shoulders of Sabates. Upon their arrival to Boston
, where the family originally settled, Felix found work at the local hospital washing pots and pans, and later in Columbia, Missouri
, again working in a hospital. An American-based Catholic
charity, active throughout Cuba before and after the Castro takeover, established Lexington, North Carolina
as a resettlement site for thousands of refugees who fled the new regime. The Sabates' were among the new arrivals to that city.
In Lexington, Felix began working 12-hour shifts in a furniture factory, sanding furniture to help support the family. Four years 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.
, Mid Atlantic
and South Central United States
and adding a new sales force to handle the distribution of product lines for those areas of the country, Sabates positioned the company to be a viable necessity to the factories he was representing.
Sabates' potential in business-plan design and implementation became apparent immediately. Recognizing various products for having guaranteed propensity for future success, he instructed his company to carry them for distribution. Sabates’ top selling product lines that served as springboards for company included, Atari
and the video game Pong
and Pac Man, Teddy Ruxpin
, the talking Teddy Bear, which Sabates had exclusive distribution rights nationwide. After a promise Sabates made to a large customer that he would deliver the Ruxpin bear in time for Christmas, when the popular Ruxpin bear became the gotta-have-it and then sold out before the Christmas holiday, Sabates chartered a Boeing 747
aircraft, removed the seats and filled the entire aircraft with Teddy Ruxpin bears and then delivered his promise to his loyal customer. Next, by popular demand Sabates entered the big leagues once again with distribution rights to the phenomenon of the next generation still popular today, Nintendo
with games such games as Super Mario Bros.
. Selling these popular products placed Sabates in the industry's Lime light creating a lasting mark of the name Felix as the example of selling power in the industry. Although Sabates had been receiving weekly purchase orders larger than most similar firms total annual sales, Sabates insisted that his company continue selling products to the same small mom and pop retailers called on when the company had first started selling products. Sabates attributes a great deal of his success to what he calls, The Core Business. Windermere
, Black and Decker, Emerson Electronics, and Uniden
are a few examples of other product lines which were considered far less exciting and much harder to sell. It was those less-exciting product lines sold by the company that collectively generated a more stable cash flow and also represented Top Sale's core business.
In the early 1990s, Top Sales Company, a successful, multi-billion dollar manufacturer in the corporate world began manufacturing products to be sold in the retail channel. Compaq Computer turned to Top Sales Company for the distribution and sales and marketing of the home and small business personal PC into the well established and growing retailers of Sabates’ current business. As a positioned leader in the industry, Top Sales successfully generated billions of dollars in revenue for the computer power-house company and helped to establish the Compaq brand name to retailers and their customers throughout the United States almost overnight.
At the top of his game, Felix Sabates’ Top Sales Company, became the largest, most successful manufacturer’s representative company in the United States with over $12 billion dollars in sales. Once again, Top Sales Company and their products proved to be an industry force.
With tremendous success in the 1980’s and 1990’s and after expanding internationally, Sabates turned his focus in a new direction. In a move that shocked the business world, Felix Sabates sold Top Sales Company to his employees at an undisclosed amount. The price however, was said to be much lower than he could have secured on the open market; rewarding the people that helped him to build the business and accomplish the feat of delivering over $12 billion in merchandise sales, Sabates’ generosity enabled all the employees to become an owner in the company.
motor sports elite with his purchase of a research and development team from a popular Charlotte businessman, Rick Hendrick
. 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 Winston Cup teams. He started with the hiring of driver Kyle Petty
in 1989. 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 Winston 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
, Bobby Hillin, Jr.
, Tommy Kendall
, Kenny Wallace
, Bobby Hamilton
, Robby Gordon
, Greg Sacks
, Wally Dallenbach Jr., Joe Nemechek
, Jeff Green
, Ted Musgrave
, Jason Leffler
, Scott Pruett
, Jimmy Spencer
, and Martin Truex Jr.
to name a few.
In 2000, Sabates became heavily involved in a life long dream in the yachts industry. Sabates bought Trinity Yachts, the factory which builds Mega-Yachts of 100 to over 200 feet in length with price tags that can exceed $50 million. To allocate his time more effectively, Sabates' Team Sabco partnered with Chip Ganassi
to become Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Prior to the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, that team merged with DEI, citing the global economic status as the main reason.
Currently, the multi-team drivers include Jamie McMurray
in the #1 car & Juan Pablo Montoya
in the #42. In addition to the NASCAR circuit, they also own multi-team race cars in the GrandAm Rolex Series and the drivers include Scott Pruett
, Luis Diaz, Stefan Johansson
and Cort Wagner.
. Also in the 1990s, he established The Charlotte Professional Sports Team, Inc, along with Hornets executive Carl Scheer, and his NASCAR driver, Kyle Petty, and his father Richard, which returned professional hockey to Charlotte for the first time since 1977, when the ECHL
placed an expansion franchise in Charlotte for 1993. In 1996, Sabates’ Charlotte Checkers won the Jack Riley Cup
championship after competing in the ECHL for just three years. The Checkers were sold shortly after their championship season at a then-record price for a minor-league professional franchise, to Tim Braswell, who sold the team in 2000 to George Shinn
and Ray Woolridge, the Hornets owners.
A tumultuous 2002 ended with Hornets moving to New Orleans, and the Checkers on the verge of being sold again and potentially moved (Woolridge and Shinn eventually forced out an ECHL
team in New Orleans), Sabates once again teamed with Carl Scheer to purchase the Charlotte Checkers. In November 2005, Sabates' Checker's hit an all time attendance record of 10,894.
In addition, Sabates is the only person that had ownership in New Orleans Hornets and currently, the new expansion team, The Charlotte Bobcats
.
, the Applica Corporation, Simpson Products, and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. He also was the co-chair of a North Carolina Institute of Medicine
Task Force on Latino Health.
Sabates is also well known for his many philanthropic contributions and has received several honours and awards for his generosity. Belmont Abbey College
, North Carolina, has named its dining hall after him. Elon College in Elon, North Carolina, honored him with an honorary doctor's degree. He also has received a Special Blessing in writing from the Pope.
and supports local Republicans as well as former Presidents of the United States, George H. W. Bush
and George W. Bush
. During Governor Jim Martin's term in office of the state of North Carolina, Felix set another first and became the first Cuban to be appointed to a position in N.C. by Governor Jim Martin to the Banking Commission of North Carolina. Felix served for two terms under the Governors term in office.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
living in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He is currently a minority shareholder in Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...
, which fields teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is a NASCAR team based in Concord, North Carolina, United States, owned by Dale Earnhardt's widow Teresa Earnhardt, Chip Ganassi, and Felix Sabates. This team was formed when Dale Earnhardt, Inc...
), GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series is the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It is a North American-based sports car series that was founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship...
and the IZOD IndyCar Series. Sabates previously owned his own NASCAR team, Team SABCO Racing, until the end of the 2000 season when Chip Ganassi
Chip Ganassi
Floyd "Chip" Ganassi, Jr is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner.He is currently the owner and president of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates which operates teams on the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series circuit...
bought a majority stake in the team. Sabates' name was then added to Ganassi's open-wheel operations.
Early life
Sabates, was the oldest of seven, three boys and four girls. As a youth and growing up in CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
before Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's regime conquered the Island, Felix remembers his fortunate and blessed lifestyle. Sabates’ hard-working and prosperous Cuban parents had established great wealth and prestige through wise investing and a variety of businesses which carried their family name. The successful business included Sabates import and export, Sabates jewelry and Sabates optical stores, Sabates insurance, sugar, cattle, service stations and pharmacies. Suddenly, at the age of 15, everything changed when Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and his guerillas seized government control, establishing a communist dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
still in existence today. The family businesses were seized by the government and they lost all of their personal possessions to the hands of Fidel Castro. After being stripped of their wealth and faced with the struggles of Communism, the Sabates family migrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The effects of Castro’s new imposed laws, the family strategically and intelligently escaped the Castro regime at different times. At age 15, Felix was the first member of the family to enter The United States. Soon after his arrival; he was reunited by his mother and six young brothers and sisters.
Forbidden to leave the country, it was many years later before Dr. Sabates Sr. was allowed to join his exiled family in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Responsibility to help support his mother and siblings fell on the shoulders of Sabates. Upon their arrival to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, where the family originally settled, Felix found work at the local hospital washing pots and pans, and later in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, again working in a hospital. An American-based Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
charity, active throughout Cuba before and after the Castro takeover, established Lexington, North Carolina
Lexington, North Carolina
Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 19,953. It is located in central North Carolina, twenty miles south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, U.S. Route 29, U.S. Route 70, U.S. Route 52 ...
as a resettlement site for thousands of refugees who fled the new regime. The Sabates' were among the new arrivals to that city.
In Lexington, Felix began working 12-hour shifts in a furniture factory, sanding furniture to help support the family. Four years later he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, and began working at National Car Rental
National Car Rental
National Car Rental is a rental car company based in Clayton, Missouri. National was founded by 24 independent rental car agents on August 27, 1947...
as a parking lot attendant and washing cars at the Charlotte Airport
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr...
. 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
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
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.
Business Success
Compelled to accept the position as a manufacturer's representative, Sabates worried that a new starting pay, considerably lower than his success with selling new cars, would be a financial burden to his family. Realizing his ambition and true potential, his friends and family encouraged him to accept the job. The decision to accept would be a turning point in Sabates’ career. Sabates’ driven ambition combined with an eye for exceptional product lines, generated record breaking revenues for the company which enabled his boss and the owner of the company, Walter Riche to take an early retirement. In 1974, by age 32, Sabates conquered the American dream and bought the company. As the CEO and with control of the company in his hand, Sabates benchmarked a new direction for the company which focused on growing the company. Expanding offices throughout the SoutheastSoutheastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
, Mid Atlantic
Mid Atlantic
Mid Atlantic can refer to:*The middle of the Atlantic Ocean*Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a tectonic plate boundary*Mid-Atlantic states, a region in the United States*Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference, an athletic league in the United States...
and South Central United States
South Central United States
The South Central United States or South Central states is a region of the United States located in the south central part of the country. It evolved out of the archaic southwest, which originally was literally the western U.S. South...
and adding a new sales force to handle the distribution of product lines for those areas of the country, Sabates positioned the company to be a viable necessity to the factories he was representing.
Sabates' potential in business-plan design and implementation became apparent immediately. Recognizing various products for having guaranteed propensity for future success, he instructed his company to carry them for distribution. Sabates’ top selling product lines that served as springboards for company included, Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
and the video game Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
and Pac Man, Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin
Teddy Ruxpin is a children's toy talking bear. The bear would move his mouth and eyes while 'reading' stories which were played on an audio tape cassette deck built into his back. It was created by Ken Forsse with later assistance by Larry Larsen and John Davies. Later versions would use a digital...
, the talking Teddy Bear, which Sabates had exclusive distribution rights nationwide. After a promise Sabates made to a large customer that he would deliver the Ruxpin bear in time for Christmas, when the popular Ruxpin bear became the gotta-have-it and then sold out before the Christmas holiday, Sabates chartered a Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
aircraft, removed the seats and filled the entire aircraft with Teddy Ruxpin bears and then delivered his promise to his loyal customer. Next, by popular demand Sabates entered the big leagues once again with distribution rights to the phenomenon of the next generation still popular today, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
with games such games as Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
. Selling these popular products placed Sabates in the industry's Lime light creating a lasting mark of the name Felix as the example of selling power in the industry. Although Sabates had been receiving weekly purchase orders larger than most similar firms total annual sales, Sabates insisted that his company continue selling products to the same small mom and pop retailers called on when the company had first started selling products. Sabates attributes a great deal of his success to what he calls, The Core Business. Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
, Black and Decker, Emerson Electronics, and Uniden
Uniden
is a Japanese company in the wireless communication industry.-History:Uniden was established on February 7, 1966 by its founder Hideo Fujimoto...
are a few examples of other product lines which were considered far less exciting and much harder to sell. It was those less-exciting product lines sold by the company that collectively generated a more stable cash flow and also represented Top Sale's core business.
In the early 1990s, Top Sales Company, a successful, multi-billion dollar manufacturer in the corporate world began manufacturing products to be sold in the retail channel. Compaq Computer turned to Top Sales Company for the distribution and sales and marketing of the home and small business personal PC into the well established and growing retailers of Sabates’ current business. As a positioned leader in the industry, Top Sales successfully generated billions of dollars in revenue for the computer power-house company and helped to establish the Compaq brand name to retailers and their customers throughout the United States almost overnight.
At the top of his game, Felix Sabates’ Top Sales Company, became the largest, most successful manufacturer’s representative company in the United States with over $12 billion dollars in sales. Once again, Top Sales Company and their products proved to be an industry force.
With tremendous success in the 1980’s and 1990’s and after expanding internationally, Sabates turned his focus in a new direction. In a move that shocked the business world, Felix Sabates sold Top Sales Company to his employees at an undisclosed amount. The price however, was said to be much lower than he could have secured on the open market; rewarding the people that helped him to build the business and accomplish the feat of delivering over $12 billion in merchandise sales, Sabates’ generosity enabled all the employees to become an owner in the company.
NASCAR
In the 1980s, Sabates established himself in another area of the business world - professional sports. In 1987, he joined the NASCARNASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
motor sports elite with his purchase of a research and development team from a popular Charlotte businessman, Rick Hendrick
Rick Hendrick
Joseph Riddick Hendrick III , better known as Rick Hendrick, is the current owner of the American NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Marrow Program. He attended Park View High School in South Hill, Virginia, and began his career in auto...
. SABCO Racing was founded and a new NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
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 Winston Cup teams. He started with the hiring of driver Kyle Petty
Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty is a former American NASCAR driver and is currently a co-host for NASCAR RaceDay and panel member for NASCAR Smarts which are both on SPEED. He also commentates for TNT in the summer. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of the late Adam...
in 1989. 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 Winston 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
Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. He is the son of late NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin. He is married to Paula and has a daughter, Sutherlin, and a son, Steadman, who sometimes races in the Nationwide Series....
, Bobby Hillin, Jr.
Bobby Hillin, Jr.
Bobby Hillin, Jr. , is an American stock car racecar driver. Hillin's love for racing began when he was a young boy watching his father's USAC Sprint and Indy cars race across the Midwest. At the age of 13, after a short period of racing go-karts and motocross, Hillin drove his first race car in...
, Tommy Kendall
Tommy Kendall
Tommy Kendall is an American race car driver and television broadcaster. He is best known for his SCCA Trans-Am Series career....
, Kenny Wallace
Kenny Wallace
Kenneth Wallace is an American stock car driver who currently drives the #09 Family Farmers/University of Northwestern Ohio/Federated Auto Parts/American Ethanol/Iowa Corn/G-Oil/Marquis Energy Toyota Camry for RAB Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series...
, Bobby Hamilton
Bobby Hamilton
Charles Robert Hamilton, Sr. was a driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit and the winner of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. Hamilton owned Bobby Hamilton Racing, which fielded three entries in each NCWTS event...
, Robby Gordon
Robby Gordon
Robert W. "Robby" Gordon is an American racecar driver who currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as an owner-driver, driving the No. 7 Speed Energy Dodge Charger for Robby Gordon Motorsports, and also competes part-time in the Nationwide Series...
, Greg Sacks
Greg Sacks
Greg Sacks is a NASCAR driver. He is married to his wife Vicky and lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. Together they had three children: Paul, Brian, and Rachel. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka.Sacks has spent most of his career as a Research & Development driver for many NASCAR...
, Wally Dallenbach Jr., Joe Nemechek
Joe Nemechek
Joseph Frank Nemechek III is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and owner of NEMCO Motorsports. He won the 1992 Busch Series championship...
, Jeff Green
Jeff Green (NASCAR)
Jeffery Green is an American stock car driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He currently drives part time in the Nationwide Series for Tri-Star Motorsports in their #44 entry and the Sprint Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports in their #55 entry.Green's 1990 Nashville Speedway USA championship...
, Ted Musgrave
Ted Musgrave
Theodore Musgrave is an American race car driver.-Pre-NASCAR:Musgrave's father, Elmer, was a famous short-track racer in the Midwest who raced for over 25 years at Soldier Field, O'Hare, Waukegan, and Wilmot, Wisconsin before moving into asphalt late models in the American Speed Association and...
, Jason Leffler
Jason Leffler
Jason Leffler is a NASCAR driver from Long Beach, California. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks before moving to NASCAR's three major series...
, Scott Pruett
Scott Pruett
Scott Donald Pruett is an American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, Champ Car, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children, and are children's book authors....
, Jimmy Spencer
Jimmy Spencer
Jimmy Spencer is a current television commentator, and a former NASCAR driver. He formerly hosted the NASCAR inspired talk show, “What’s the Deal?”, on SPEED. He is the former co-host, with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace, of the SPEED's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and...
, and Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Truex is a two-time Nationwide Series champion; having won the title in 2004 and 2005. His younger brother, Ryan is a champion in the K&N Pro Series East...
to name a few.
In 2000, Sabates became heavily involved in a life long dream in the yachts industry. Sabates bought Trinity Yachts, the factory which builds Mega-Yachts of 100 to over 200 feet in length with price tags that can exceed $50 million. To allocate his time more effectively, Sabates' Team Sabco partnered with Chip Ganassi
Chip Ganassi
Floyd "Chip" Ganassi, Jr is a former American racecar driver and current racecar owner.He is currently the owner and president of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates which operates teams on the IndyCar, NASCAR and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series circuit...
to become Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Prior to the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, that team merged with DEI, citing the global economic status as the main reason.
Currently, the multi-team drivers include Jamie McMurray
Jamie McMurray
James Christopher "Jamie" McMurray is a professional American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start, and is one of three drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year...
in the #1 car & Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...
in the #42. In addition to the NASCAR circuit, they also own multi-team race cars in the GrandAm Rolex Series and the drivers include Scott Pruett
Scott Pruett
Scott Donald Pruett is an American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, Champ Car, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children, and are children's book authors....
, Luis Diaz, Stefan Johansson
Stefan Johansson
Stefan Nils Edwin Johansson is a former Formula One driver from who drove for among others both Ferrari and McLaren during his Grand Prix career. Since leaving Formula One he has raced in a number of categories, including CART, various kinds of Sports car racing, and Grand Prix Masters...
and Cort Wagner.
Basketball and Hockey
Sabates has spread his influence across other sports, as well. In 1988, as an original owner of the New Orleans Hornets basketball team, Sabates played an intricate part negotiating with the NBA to grant franchise rights to Charlotte. Sabates sold his interest a few years later. After starting the first professional indoor soccer league in the 1980s, the grandfather of six was one of the first investors in the World Football LeagueWorld Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
. Also in the 1990s, he established The Charlotte Professional Sports Team, Inc, along with Hornets executive Carl Scheer, and his NASCAR driver, Kyle Petty, and his father Richard, which returned professional hockey to Charlotte for the first time since 1977, when the ECHL
ECHL
The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
placed an expansion franchise in Charlotte for 1993. In 1996, Sabates’ Charlotte Checkers won the Jack Riley Cup
Kelly Cup
The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the play-off champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup. The current cup is named after Patrick J. Kelly, the league's first commissioner. The cup is loaned to the winning...
championship after competing in the ECHL for just three years. The Checkers were sold shortly after their championship season at a then-record price for a minor-league professional franchise, to Tim Braswell, who sold the team in 2000 to George Shinn
George Shinn
George Shinn is the former owner of the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets as well the Charlotte Knights and Gastonia Rangers minor league baseball teams along with the Raleigh/Durham Skyhawks of the World League of American Football. He purchased the Hornets for $32,500,000 in 1987...
and Ray Woolridge, the Hornets owners.
A tumultuous 2002 ended with Hornets moving to New Orleans, and the Checkers on the verge of being sold again and potentially moved (Woolridge and Shinn eventually forced out an ECHL
ECHL
The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...
team in New Orleans), Sabates once again teamed with Carl Scheer to purchase the Charlotte Checkers. In November 2005, Sabates' Checker's hit an all time attendance record of 10,894.
In addition, Sabates is the only person that had ownership in New Orleans Hornets and currently, the new expansion team, The Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte Bobcats
The Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
.
Civic Involvement and Philanthropy
In addition to his successes in sports, Sabates also focuses much attention on civic activities. He serves on the Board of Directors for Carolinas Health Care Systems, the University of North Carolina at CharlotteUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte , also known as UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte, is a public research university located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States...
, the Applica Corporation, Simpson Products, and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. He also was the co-chair of a North Carolina Institute of Medicine
North Carolina Institute of Medicine
The North Carolina Institute of Medicine is a quasi-state agency charged with building consensus on critical matters of health policy facing North Carolina and advising on health matters.-History:...
Task Force on Latino Health.
Sabates is also well known for his many philanthropic contributions and has received several honours and awards for his generosity. Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College is a private liberal-arts Catholic college located in Belmont, North Carolina, USA west of Uptown Charlotte. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey...
, North Carolina, has named its dining hall after him. Elon College in Elon, North Carolina, honored him with an honorary doctor's degree. He also has received a Special Blessing in writing from the Pope.
Political Affiliation
Felix is a member of the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and supports local Republicans as well as former Presidents of the United States, George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. During Governor Jim Martin's term in office of the state of North Carolina, Felix set another first and became the first Cuban to be appointed to a position in N.C. by Governor Jim Martin to the Banking Commission of North Carolina. Felix served for two terms under the Governors term in office.