Bill France Sr. was a
big man -- literally and figuratively. He stood 6'5", and founded NASCAR in 1947. He helped the sport grow to a small regional
sport in the Southeast part of the country.
When he handed it over
to his son, Bill France Jr. it was completely overhauled.
One of Bill France Jr.'s
first moves at president of NASCAR was to get a series sponsor, which he did. That sponsor was the Winston Tobacco Company,
an organization that stayed with the sport until it departed in 2003, ironically the same year France
handed off his leadership role to his son, Brian France.
In 1979, France and CBS
Sports brought NASCAR's biggest race to the homes of millions broadcasting the Daytona 500 live with flag-toflag coverage
for the first time. With its fantastic finish and brawl between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison helped fuel people's interest
with the not-so-popular sport.
France
oversaw the building of race tracks into the Midwest and southwest regions; he also watched NASCAR's
popularity skyrocket from the 1980's through today.
Currently, NASCAR is
the second-largest sport in America, behind the National Football
League. The man who was primarily responsible for getting the small, regional sport recognized was Bill France Jr.
He had a vision, a vision
that NASCAR would be popular, and would attract many, many viewers. He was right, as the sport he was president of for most
of its history has some 75 million fans.
2006 StockCar Review.
