Bill France Jr. was given the keys to NASCAR in 1972 and from there he took the sport of stock car racing on a ride that led to a victory lane of prosperity few could have envisioned.
The chairman of NASCAR for more than 30 years and the man who brought the racing organization to national prominence, France Jr. died Monday at his home in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was 74. No cause of death was announced.
France Jr. had been ill for several years, suffering a heart attack in 1997 and undergoing surgery for a broken hip and a triple bypass in 2002. He retired a year later and named his son Brian chairman and CEO; Mike Helton had taken over as president in 2000.
It was somewhat ironic that most racing fans heard of France's passing on Fox's telecast of the NASCAR Nextel Cup race from Dover, Del. The Autism Speaks 400 was scheduled for Sunday but had to be delayed a day because of rain. (It was won by Martin Truex Jr.)
France's father, Bill Sr., founded NASCAR in 1947 and ran it until 1972. When France Jr. became president, he began to transform the sport from a regional entity into a national powerhouse. First, he negotiated the landmark deal with R.J. Reynolds Corp. to have the tobacco maker become the sponsor of NASCAR's top-echelon racing series.
Next, France Jr. took steps to increase the sport's visibility. It would eventually expand beyond its traditional southeastern roots to locations across the United States, but first it would have to become more of a factor in the national media.
It wasn't until the 1979 Daytona 500 and a revolutionary deal with CBS that a NASCAR race was seen live in its entirety on national TV. Previously, stock car racing was primarily a segment within ABC's "Wide World of Sports." Back then, drivers were encouraged not to get into crashes so as not to make the races go beyond the allotted TV time.
After several successful years in which NASCAR's rise in popularity could be linked with that of its primary TV home ESPN, France Jr. in 2001 negotiated the blockbuster $2.4 billion TV deal with Fox, NBC and Turner that would propel the sport to financial heights alongside the NFL and Major League Baseball. NASCAR now ranks second nationally among the most-watched professional sports.
France Jr. was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004. In its tribute to him, the Hall proclaimed, "Other than the founding of NASCAR itself, Bill Jr.’s appointment to leadership is probably the most significant event in the history of the sanctioning body.
"As rule-maker, promoter, ambassador, and salesman, France has set the standard by which all other forms of motorsports are measured."
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