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Remembering William Clifton “Bill” France, Jr. An Opinion
June 6, 2007
William Clifton “Bill” France, Jr. was born in 1933 in Washington, D.C. He was two years old when his family moved to Daytona Beach, Florida. When his father was promoting the beach races on Daytona Beach, Bill Jr. became involved in doing just about any job there was in support from selling concessions to parking cars. He attended Daytona’s Seabreeze High School where he played basketball. France later attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and served two years in the United States Navy. From there he returned to working with his father in NASCAR. He flagged events, scored, promoted, served as pit steward and even raced in a few NASCAR events during the 1950's. When his father started the construction of the Daytona Speedway, Bill Jr. took an active part in the project. He is quoted by the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame as saying, "I ran a motor grader some and a bulldozer, but mostly I was on a compactor. I did a little of this, that and the other. I even had a mule out there one time pulling trees out of the swamp. Everything that was motorized back then got stuck in the swamp. I said, let's try a mule. That didn't work either.” "We'd have big piles of stumps that we had to burn. I remember seeing a big rattlesnake out here one day. They asked me, 'Where did you find him at?' I pointed to where I found it. This one man had an ax and he swung it into a stump and we heard rattles buzzing all over the place. The area was full of snakes. We cleared out of there pretty fast.” "We went seven days a week for 13 months to build the Speedway. We went from 7 in the morning to 7 at night, and worked in the winter until it got dark." In 1959, Bill France, Jr. was named to the Board of Directors of Daytona International Speedway. In 1963, his father named him Vice President of Daytona International Speedway. In 1966, He was also named Vice President of NASCAR. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Bill Jr. became involved riding a Harley-Davidson 125 on the beach, riding some Enduro events, and even competing in the Baja 1000. On January 10, 1972, his father named him as the new President and CEO of the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR). During Bill Jr.’s reign at the helm of NASCAR, he took what was a regional sport and brought it to a national market. In 1974, France signed a deal with R. J. Reynolds to sponsor NASCAR’s premier series, renaming the NASCAR Grand National Division to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. In 1978, he signed a deal with CBS Sports to televise the 1979 Daytona 500. The deal marked the first flag to flag live television coverage of a stock car race. France’s love for motorcycle racing spilled over into his work at Daytona Speedway, continuing to promote the track’s Daytona 200 motorcycle race and adding supercross racing to events offered by the speedway. He continued to promote the March Daytona Bike Week at the speedway, seeing the crowds grow in excess of 500,000. Under France’s guidance, International Speedway Corporation continued to expand is racing facility holdings and upgraded the existing facilities. In 1999, France was diagnosed with cancer, but despite struggling with the energy sapping treatments, France continued to oversee NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation. On November 28, 2000 Bill France, Jr. announced he was naming his son-in-law, Mike Helton, then NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer, as President of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). France also announced that he would remain Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. On September 13, 2003 Bill France, Jr. announced he had named his son, Brian Z. France, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and France, Jr. assumed the role of Vice Chairman. After almost a decade-long battle with cancer, William C. France, Jr. died at his home in Daytona Beach, Florida June 4, 2007 at the age of 74.
You can contact Allen Madding at .. Insider Racing News The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. 
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