Bill France Jr. left impact on people as well as business (cont'd)

"He said, 'You know, Denis, it'll never work unless everybody's making money.'

"And I really respected that, particularly back in the early '70s, when we were losing our butt here, big-time. He could have crushed us, and moved on. But he always gave advice on how to do things, and he always made sure, if we were struggling a little bit, that the negotiations over the sanctions weren't as tough.

"Once we started getting healthy and filling the grandstands, he rightly said, 'It's time to step up ... and you can fill a larger role.' So for a guy who was at the peak of our world, but could still understand and empathize with those guys who were still trying to climb up the sides [was huge], because he would keep us viable, too.

"So we've gone from 22,000 seats to 135,000, and now we're bringing Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington to the table for NASCAR, and that wouldn't have happened unless Bill paid attention to us."

While the elder France's creation of the sanctioning body would have to be considered its single most important moment; Bill France's term as president defined its current role as the second-leading professional sport in America.

Longtime Penske Racing executive Don Miller, who was a Penske race crewman in the 1970s, was one who recognized France's broad-ranging vision.

"I don't think anyone realizes how much they owe that man, because he was the guy that propelled it all the way into the success that we have right now," Miller said. "I know that he was a factor in all the decision-making, right up to the end, here, and [his death] really caught me by surprise.

"It's an unfortunate thing and this sport is going to miss him. Bill had done it all -- he'd been there in the good and he'd been there in the bad -- so when he looked at something, he didn't look at it for today, he'd look at it for three or four years down the road.

"He wondered how it was going to affect things then. What it was going to do tomorrow was one thing, but how it was going to affect things in the future was another matter altogether and that's the kind of vision he had."

"A lot of times big money ruins people, it changes who they are and makes them not so attractive to everybody else around them," McGlynn said. "Bill never changed, in my mind.

"If he had a lot of money, I don't think he knew it -- and if he did, I don't think he ever let it change him. The success didn't spoil Bill France, and he always stayed a regular guy to all of us, no matter who we were.

"He could swap jokes with everybody and tell fishing stories and talk business and be an iron-fisted ruler, and he could be all of those things. You could go nose-to-nose with him and the moment that it's over, it's over and life goes on and you're the best of buddies again.

"He was just a remarkable guy."

Rick Crawford, who's become the "iron man" of the Craftsman Truck Series after a notable career in outlaw late-model racing, ably presented "Everyman's" interpretation of the strength of France's vision; delivered with true reverence.

"Most people credit Mr. France with bringing NASCAR into the modern era," Crawford said. "His vision for where the sport was going was incredible."

Crawford was one of many who correctly credited the younger France with having the same wide-angle perspective his father had always displayed.

"I'll always be grateful for his commitment to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series," Crawford said. "In the early days, Mr. France was a regular in the drivers' meetings and we all felt his guiding hand in making the Truck Series what it is today. (Continued)