# Christian Elder

Christian Stuart Elder (December 6, 1968 – August 12, 2007) was an American racing driver. He raced in the Busch Series for Akins Motorsports for two years. His best finish of the year was 26th at Kentucky.
Elder made his debut in 2001, running his first race at Las Vegas for Akins where he started the race in 32nd, and he finished 23rd. In sixteen starts, he managed two top-20s (a pair of 20ths at Bristol and Dover). In 2002, Elder began running races for Akins full-time. A serious crash in qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway ended his Busch career.
Elder has competed in the ARCA series, Star Mazda Series, Speed World Challenge Series, Busch Series and NASCAR Goody's Dash Series which Elder competed in and won races at Daytona and Lowe's Motor Speedway. He also had a pole position at Bristol Motor Speedway.

## Qualifying crash

During qualifying for a race at Chicagoland Speedway, Elder lost control of his car at turns three and four, causing his car to shoot up the track and hit the wall extremely hard, slamming the car's right side past the windshield, badly wrinkling the whole side of the car. He suffered a concussion and a broken collar bone. Track rescue workers had to cut him out of the race car and Elder was transported to a nearby hospital. The crash ended his NASCAR career.

## Death

Elder died at his home in Cornelius, North Carolina, on Sunday, August 12, 2007, due to accidental methadone toxicity, caused by mixing up pills he was taking due to his accident. At the time of his death, Elder was a project manager for Elder-Jones, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina.

## Motorsports career results
### NASCAR

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

#### Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | NBSC | Pts |
| 2001 | Akins Motorsports | 38 | Ford | DAY DNQ | CAR | LVS 23 | ATL 26 | DAR | BRI 20 | TEX | NSH | TAL 26 | CAL 24 | RCH | NHA | NZH 28 | CLT 37 | DOV 20 | KEN 24 | MLW | GLN | CHI 29 | GTY 30 | PPR | IRP | MCH | BRI 35 | DAR | RCH | DOV | KAN 27 | CLT 40 | MEM | PHO 28 | CAR | HOM 43 | | 39th | 1228 |
| 2002 | Akins Motorsports | 38 | Ford | DAY 36 | CAR 37 | LVS 38 | DAR | BRI | TEX 31 | NSH | TAL 43 | CAL 43 | RCH | NHA | NZH | CLT | DOV | NSH | KEN 26 | MLW | DAY 29 | CHI INQ$^†$ | GTY | PPR | IRP | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MEM | ATL | CAR | PHO | HOM | 58th | 455 |
| $^†$ - Qualified, but received career-ending injuries in a qualifying crash, and was replaced by Mark Green ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

#### Goody's Dash Series

NASCAR Goody's Dash Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | NGDS | Pts | Ref |
| 1995 | N/A | 23 | Chevy | DAY | FLO | LAN | MYB | SUM | HCY | CAR | STH | BRI | SUM | GRE | BGS | MYB | NSV | FLO | NWS | VOL 15 | HCY | HOM 36 | | | N/A | 0 | |
| 1996 | Elder Racing | 38 | Pontiac | DAY | HOM 21 | MYB | SUM | NSV 20 | TRI | CAR | HCY | FLO 28 | BRI DNQ | SUM | GRE | SNM | BGS | MYB 33 | LAN | STH | FLO | NWS 31 | VOL | HCY | 44th | 471 | |
| 1997 | Elder-Jones Racing | 21 | Pontiac | DAY 2 | HOM 20 | KIN 17 | MYB 26 | LAN 14 | CAR 13 | TRI 14 | FLO 3 | HCY 19 | BRI 17 | GRE 21 | SNM | CLT 1* | MYB 23 | LAN 18 | SUM | | | USA 2 | CON | HOM 19 | 14th | 2093 | |
| 1997 | Elder-Jones Racing | 12 | Pontiac | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | STA 16 | HCY | | | | | | 14th | 2093 |
| 1998 | Elder-Jones Racing | 21 | Pontiac | DAY 10 | HCY 18 | CAR 25 | CLT 8 | TRI | LAN | BRI 19 | SUM | GRE | ROU | SNM | MYB | CON | HCY | LAN | STA | LOU | VOL | USA | HOM | | 35th | 579 | |
| 1999 | Elder-Jones Racing | 21 | Pontiac | DAY 1* | HCY | CAR | CLT | BRI | LOU | SUM | GRE | ROU | STA | MYB | HCY | LAN | USA | JAC | LAN | | | | | | N/A | 0 | |
| 2000 | Elder-Jones Racing | 21 | Pontiac | DAY 21 | MON | STA | JAC | CAR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 48th | 212 | |
| 2000 | N/A | 16 | Pontiac | | | | | | CLT 17 | SBO | ROU | LOU | SUM | GRE | SNM | MYB | BRI | HCY | JAC | USA | LAN | | | | | | 48th | 212 |
| 2001 | N/A | 16 | Pontiac | DAY 29 | ROU | DAR | CLT | LOU | JAC | KEN | SBO | DAY | GRE | SNM | NRV | MYB | BRI | ACE | JAC | USA | NSH | | | | 77th | 76 | |

### ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ABMHSC | Pts |
| 1998 | John Elder | 14 | Pontiac | DAY | ATL | SLM | CLT | MEM | MCH | POC | SBS | TOL | PPR | POC | KIL | FRS | ISF | ATL | DSF | SLM | TEX | WIN | CLT | TAL | ATL 40 | N/A | 0 |
| 1999 | John Elder | 14 | Pontiac | DAY | ATL 27 | SLM | AND | CLT | MCH 15 | POC | TOL | SBS | BLN | POC 28 | KIL | FRS | FLM | ISF | WIN | DSF | SLM | CLT 41 | TAL | ATL 15 | | 54th | 525 |
| 2000 | John Elder | 14 | Pontiac | DAY DNQ | SLM | AND | CLT 24 | KIL | FRS | MCH 37 | POC | TOL | KEN | BLN | POC 23 | WIN | ISF | KEN | DSF | SLM | CLT | TAL 15 | ATL 33 | | | 51st | 520 |