Born Theodore Christopher, he grew up in Connecticut and became a fixture on the tight, quarter-mile asphalt ovals that define Northeast stock car racing. His racing background was broad: in addition to Modifieds and SK Modifieds, he competed in ISMA supermodifieds, late models, pro stocks, and midgets. He also attempted and competed in NASCAR's Winston Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series during the 2000s, though his national-series appearances were limited compared to his regional dominance.
Christopher had a twin brother, Mike, who also raced Modifieds in Connecticut, and Mike's son Mike Jr. subsequently followed both into the discipline. Christopher was a 1976 graduate of Plainville High School where he captained the wrestling team, and he later owned and operated M&T Enterprises, a heavy-truck transmission rebuilding company.
Christopher's record at Connecticut's three primary NASCAR Whelen All-American Series asphalt ovals was without parallel. At Stafford Motor Speedway he won 131 feature races, the all-time track record, and won nine SK Modified championships; the track named a grandstand section in his honor in 2008 upon his 100th victory there. At Thompson International Speedway he accumulated 99 victories, also the all-time record, along with four SK Modified championships. At Waterford Speedbowl he registered 47 victories and one SK Modified championship. He was the first driver to win SK Modified track championships at all three Connecticut ovals during his career.
In 2001, Christopher won the NASCAR Weekly Series national championship, claiming fifteen of the eighteen events he entered and clinching the title at Thompson International Speedway. His 2008 Whelen Modified Tour championship came at Thompson's season finale, where he led the standings by 31 points over Matt Hirschman and drove to victory as Hirschman fell multiple laps behind with an electrical problem. The win was his 31st in the series in his twelfth full-time season. He was three times voted Most Popular Driver on the Whelen Modified Tour, in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
In the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East — formerly the Busch North and Camping World East Series — Christopher won 10 events and was particularly dominant at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he claimed five series victories.
Christopher was known throughout his career for an aggressive passing technique he called the "Three Tap Rule." On Connecticut's handicap-lineup short tracks, where the fastest qualifiers start deepest in the field and feature races run only 30 green-flag laps, he developed a systematic approach to moving competitors: a first tap to signal his presence, a second as a warning to commit to a lane, and if neither yielded results, a third and definitive bump-and-run to complete the pass. The style drew frequent criticism but was central to his on-track identity. He moderated it later in his career, which he attributed to the resulting improvement in his results.
Christopher attempted NASCAR's top divisions on multiple occasions. He qualified for and competed in his first Cup race at Watkins Glen in 1999, and his last Cup start came in the 2006 Sylvania 300. In the Busch Series he ran part-time in 1998 and 1999 with Marsh Racing, competing at Nazareth and other venues, as well as a handful of starts for Michael Waltrip Racing and Richard Childress Racing. His best Busch Series finish was tenth at Nazareth.
On September 16, 2017, Christopher was killed in a plane crash near the North Branford–Guilford town line in Connecticut. He and pilot Charles "Pat" Dundas were the only occupants of a Mooney M20C aircraft en route from Plainville, Connecticut, to Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, where Christopher was scheduled to compete that evening in a Whelen Modified Tour race at Riverhead Raceway. A 2019 NTSB report attributed the crash to fuel starvation caused by pieces of towel cloth obstructing a fuel line. The aircraft came down in a wooded area approximately 1,500 feet from an open field where investigators believed an emergency landing had been attempted.
As part of the NASCAR Weekly Series 25th anniversary in 2006, Christopher was named among the series' All Time Top 25 drivers. He was inducted into the Plainville Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. His 48 Whelen Modified Tour victories stand third on the all-time list, behind only the sport's most enduring legends, and his Connecticut short-track records are considered unassailable benchmarks of regional excellence.