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Sprint Cup
Hall Of Fame Profile: Bill France Sr., Part 5 Of 5
Bill France, Sr. was a social creature who could tell a joke, wet a fishing line and toss down a drink with the best of them...
Bill France Sr. (left) spent time with George Bush, Vice President of the United States, in 1988. Mr. Bush was visiting Daytona International Speedway during his 1988 presidential campaign. (Photo: France Family)
The NASCAR Hall of Fame will induct the five members of its inaugural class May 23. Leading up to the hall’s induction ceremony, SPEEDtv.com is profiling the first five racing legends chosen for this unique honor.
As NASCAR grew and his track empire expanded, Bill France Sr. became a confidant of presidents and kings.
When oil supplies became a problem in the 1970s, potentially threatening racing, he wined and dined with leaders of oil-rich countries and invited them to races, and he was out-front with a study that showed that other professional sports used as much fuel as NASCAR.
France could be gruff and acerbic. He occasionally dueled with sports writers when he thought they had “misinterpreted” the facts, and his booming voice could be heard across the garage area when he disagreed with a driver’s point of view.
NASCAR president Mike Helton said France’s intimidating style “certainly helped, and I don’t think he abused that, but I certainly think that was an advantage he had of getting others to see what he saw. In doing all of that, it heightened his impact. I think he had that characteristic that drew people in. He was able to share the concepts and visions and motivate them to believe in it and to work on it. When he was there holding court, so to speak, you knew that there was an authority.”
But France also was a social creature who could tell a joke, wet a fishing line and toss down a drink with the best of them. He was big and gregarious, and if he was in the room, you knew it.
“The first time I met Senior it was like meeting a very high public official like a president of the United States or a royal family member because in the NASCAR scheme of things he was iconic even in the early days, particularly for someone like me who was a fan of the sport,”
Helton said.
“I got the sense from Bill Jr. and even more so from Jim France (Senior’s younger son) that Senior was as pragmatic as Junior was, and when it came to delegating or it came to allowing others to play a role, he was all for that.
“I think he was probably forced to do a lot of things himself in the early days, but when it came time for the sport to grow and for the next phase of it, he was pretty quick to allow Bill Jr. and others to be a factor in all that and kind of blaze their own trail.”
Jim Hunter, a long-time France family lieutenant who covered NASCAR as a journalist and has worked in the sport as a track president and a public relations executive, called France “a man’s man. He liked to fish. He liked to cook. He liked to have a toddy with the boys. He was a great storyteller, and therefore a good promoter.
“He raised enough money to build Daytona, so he had to be a good promoter. He was a charming guy.
“He definitely had a presence. He played ukulele and sang. He was an entertainer. He was an outgoing guy that other guys could relate to.”
When it came time to make the hard decisions, however, Hunter said, France often stood alone.
“He had an iron will and a forceful presence,” he said. “He could impose his thoughts and beliefs on people in the racing industry. He could be a very charming person, but when it came to the day-to-day operation of NASCAR, he ruled with an iron will. He thought he knew what was best for the sport, and, in his day and time, that worked.”
Hunter said France was most comfortable when he was dealing with major projects. “He went from one big project to another big project once the first one got going,” he said. “Once he built Daytona, then he set out to build Talladega. He worked the telephones all the time, always talking to somebody, always working on the next thing.”
On Jan. 10, 1972, France retired as president of NASCAR and named his son, Bill Jr., his successor. Although the elder France would continue in an advisory role at NASCAR – he also remained chairman of International Speedway Corp. – and would still be seen frequently at races, he gave his son full authority to run the sport and to oversee the many changes that were coming.
“I think it got to the point where he felt NASCAR could sail on its own and that Bill was ready,” NASCAR historian Buz McKim said. “He liked to play. He liked to have fun on his boats. He liked to travel. He felt Bill was able to take over. Of course, Big Bill still hovered about.”
In 1976, on the occasion of his induction into the National Motorsports Press Association’s hall of fame in Darlington, S.C., France said, “If I was a czar, I hope I was a benevolent one.”
France died June 7, 1992 – it was race day at Sears Point in Sonoma, Calif. – at his Ormond Beach, Fla. home after suffering from Alzheimer’s. He was 82. Anne France, 87, died Jan. 2 of that year.
Over the final years of his life, he was honored by numerous organizations for his contributions to motorsports, and he is a member of several Halls of Fame. A street in Daytona Beach is named for him, and statues of his wife and him are prominent fixtures on the Daytona International Speedway grounds.
Would he be surprised at the growth of the sport he started more than 60 years ago?
“In some regards I think he could sit and tell you, ‘I told you so,’ ”
Helton said. “I think he saw things that we’re now experiencing and the potential of things that we are experiencing well before anybody else might have. But he also was responsible for and the mentor to the core elements of the sport that are still the core elements today.
“His whole deal was that you have to have race cars and you have to have racetracks and they need to be organized and respectful of each other for it to work. He was also very keen on the relationship between NASCAR and the automobile manufacturers. But he also was very keen on the value and the importance of the character of the driver. He thought their personalities, as well as the personalities of a race track, contributed to the success not just of the events but of the event season. He was aware of how critical marketplaces were and how important it was for NASCAR to take advantage of its opportunities.”
MONDAY: Bill France Jr.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame Grand Opening is set for May 11, 2010. Outdoor Opening Ceremonies are May 11th from 9 to 10 am ET free of charge, open to the public. Outdoor festivities including driver appearances and concerts May 11th from 10 am until 8 pm ET open to the public, free of charge. Tickets to enter the NASCAR Hall of Fame are on sale now at www.NASCARHall.com or by calling 877-231-2010. The countdown to the NASCAR Hall of Fame is on! Visit www.NASCARHall.com/50days for daily updates about the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
As NASCAR grew and his track empire expanded, Bill France Sr. became a confidant of presidents and kings.
When oil supplies became a problem in the 1970s, potentially threatening racing, he wined and dined with leaders of oil-rich countries and invited them to races, and he was out-front with a study that showed that other professional sports used as much fuel as NASCAR.
France could be gruff and acerbic. He occasionally dueled with sports writers when he thought they had “misinterpreted” the facts, and his booming voice could be heard across the garage area when he disagreed with a driver’s point of view.
NASCAR president Mike Helton said France’s intimidating style “certainly helped, and I don’t think he abused that, but I certainly think that was an advantage he had of getting others to see what he saw. In doing all of that, it heightened his impact. I think he had that characteristic that drew people in. He was able to share the concepts and visions and motivate them to believe in it and to work on it. When he was there holding court, so to speak, you knew that there was an authority.”
But France also was a social creature who could tell a joke, wet a fishing line and toss down a drink with the best of them. He was big and gregarious, and if he was in the room, you knew it.
“The first time I met Senior it was like meeting a very high public official like a president of the United States or a royal family member because in the NASCAR scheme of things he was iconic even in the early days, particularly for someone like me who was a fan of the sport,”
Helton said.
“I got the sense from Bill Jr. and even more so from Jim France (Senior’s younger son) that Senior was as pragmatic as Junior was, and when it came to delegating or it came to allowing others to play a role, he was all for that.
“I think he was probably forced to do a lot of things himself in the early days, but when it came time for the sport to grow and for the next phase of it, he was pretty quick to allow Bill Jr. and others to be a factor in all that and kind of blaze their own trail.”
Jim Hunter, a long-time France family lieutenant who covered NASCAR as a journalist and has worked in the sport as a track president and a public relations executive, called France “a man’s man. He liked to fish. He liked to cook. He liked to have a toddy with the boys. He was a great storyteller, and therefore a good promoter.
“He raised enough money to build Daytona, so he had to be a good promoter. He was a charming guy.
“He definitely had a presence. He played ukulele and sang. He was an entertainer. He was an outgoing guy that other guys could relate to.”
When it came time to make the hard decisions, however, Hunter said, France often stood alone.
“He had an iron will and a forceful presence,” he said. “He could impose his thoughts and beliefs on people in the racing industry. He could be a very charming person, but when it came to the day-to-day operation of NASCAR, he ruled with an iron will. He thought he knew what was best for the sport, and, in his day and time, that worked.”
Hunter said France was most comfortable when he was dealing with major projects. “He went from one big project to another big project once the first one got going,” he said. “Once he built Daytona, then he set out to build Talladega. He worked the telephones all the time, always talking to somebody, always working on the next thing.”
On Jan. 10, 1972, France retired as president of NASCAR and named his son, Bill Jr., his successor. Although the elder France would continue in an advisory role at NASCAR – he also remained chairman of International Speedway Corp. – and would still be seen frequently at races, he gave his son full authority to run the sport and to oversee the many changes that were coming.
“I think it got to the point where he felt NASCAR could sail on its own and that Bill was ready,” NASCAR historian Buz McKim said. “He liked to play. He liked to have fun on his boats. He liked to travel. He felt Bill was able to take over. Of course, Big Bill still hovered about.”
In 1976, on the occasion of his induction into the National Motorsports Press Association’s hall of fame in Darlington, S.C., France said, “If I was a czar, I hope I was a benevolent one.”
France died June 7, 1992 – it was race day at Sears Point in Sonoma, Calif. – at his Ormond Beach, Fla. home after suffering from Alzheimer’s. He was 82. Anne France, 87, died Jan. 2 of that year.
Over the final years of his life, he was honored by numerous organizations for his contributions to motorsports, and he is a member of several Halls of Fame. A street in Daytona Beach is named for him, and statues of his wife and him are prominent fixtures on the Daytona International Speedway grounds.
Would he be surprised at the growth of the sport he started more than 60 years ago?
“In some regards I think he could sit and tell you, ‘I told you so,’ ”
Helton said. “I think he saw things that we’re now experiencing and the potential of things that we are experiencing well before anybody else might have. But he also was responsible for and the mentor to the core elements of the sport that are still the core elements today.
“His whole deal was that you have to have race cars and you have to have racetracks and they need to be organized and respectful of each other for it to work. He was also very keen on the relationship between NASCAR and the automobile manufacturers. But he also was very keen on the value and the importance of the character of the driver. He thought their personalities, as well as the personalities of a race track, contributed to the success not just of the events but of the event season. He was aware of how critical marketplaces were and how important it was for NASCAR to take advantage of its opportunities.”
MONDAY: Bill France Jr.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame Grand Opening is set for May 11, 2010. Outdoor Opening Ceremonies are May 11th from 9 to 10 am ET free of charge, open to the public. Outdoor festivities including driver appearances and concerts May 11th from 10 am until 8 pm ET open to the public, free of charge. Tickets to enter the NASCAR Hall of Fame are on sale now at www.NASCARHall.com or by calling 877-231-2010. The countdown to the NASCAR Hall of Fame is on! Visit www.NASCARHall.com/50days for daily updates about the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
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