April 4, 1933: NASCAR 2nd generation leader Bill France Jr. is born
There was "Big Bill" France and "Little Bill" France. "Big Bill" was an auto mechanic who founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing in 1947 as a mostly small-town Southern sport that was kicked off each year with a wild race on the hard-packed sands of Daytona Beach. "Little Bill," born in Washington D.C. a year before his parents moved to Daytona Beach, grew up in the sport, traveling with his father from race to race, doing necessary grunt work and even driving a race car for a time. Bill France Jr. became head of NASCAR when "Big Bill" retired in 1972, 13 years after the opening of the Daytona International Speedway and the end of beach racing.
Under Bill France Jr.'s leadership, NASCAR expanded into one of the nation's most popular spectator sports, drawing national television audiences rivaling those for National Football League games. In 1979, he signed a deal with CBS Sports to televise the entire Daytona 500 live for the first time, then 20 years later oversaw the signing of a $2.4 billion television contract with Fox, NBC and TNT, which required replacing the sport's longtime title sponsor - Winston cigarettes - with the Nextel phone company. NASCAR's headquarters remains in Daytona Beach, where the organization was born. Besides NASCAR, the France family owns International Speedway Corp. and holds controlling interest in 13 race tracks, including Daytona International Speedway and Homestead Miami Speedway. Tens of thousands of fans bring millions of dollars to Florida three times a year for the sport's season opening and ending races and a midseason race over the July 4 holiday weekend. "Little Bill" France died in 2007 at 74.
Read Bill France Jr.'s obituary in the New York Times: Bill France Jr., 74, Dies; Gave Nascar Its National Reach
Under Bill France Jr.'s leadership, NASCAR expanded into one of the nation's most popular spectator sports, drawing national television audiences rivaling those for National Football League games. In 1979, he signed a deal with CBS Sports to televise the entire Daytona 500 live for the first time, then 20 years later oversaw the signing of a $2.4 billion television contract with Fox, NBC and TNT, which required replacing the sport's longtime title sponsor - Winston cigarettes - with the Nextel phone company. NASCAR's headquarters remains in Daytona Beach, where the organization was born. Besides NASCAR, the France family owns International Speedway Corp. and holds controlling interest in 13 race tracks, including Daytona International Speedway and Homestead Miami Speedway. Tens of thousands of fans bring millions of dollars to Florida three times a year for the sport's season opening and ending races and a midseason race over the July 4 holiday weekend. "Little Bill" France died in 2007 at 74.
Read Bill France Jr.'s obituary in the New York Times: Bill France Jr., 74, Dies; Gave Nascar Its National Reach