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

But he came to respect and cherish his relationship with France, which continued with Waltrip's role as a FOX Sports broadcaster.

"[Monday] was a day we've all dreaded," Waltrip said. "My heart is broken. I've prayed for him, my family has prayed for him and I've had my friends all pray for him. [Monday] I prayed the 21st Psalm for him.

"I think there are people in the sport that don't realize what Bill France has done, what he has sacrificed and what he has given to this sport his entire life.

"His whole life has been about the sport, the people in it, the growth of it and the prosperity of it. He truly has been the heart and soul of this sport for 30-odd years.

"He's been like a father to me. I can still see him now with those arms crossed, looking over the top of those glasses shaking his head at me and then giving me fatherly advice to tell me where I went wrong or tell me what he was thinking."

Legend has it he did that with several of the sport's stars, with the advice, "We could get along just fine without you, you know."

"He's just one of those kind of men with so much wisdom," Waltrip said. "When we lose people like that there is no replacing them. There will never be another Bill France Jr.

"This sport lost a great leader. He's been the only leader in this sport that I've really ever known. He's going to be dearly missed. People like myself not only consider him to be a friend, but to be someone they cared about and someone they loved."

Stu Grant, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company's general manager of worldwide racing, had the opportunity to share boardrooms and the garage area with a man for whom he had tremendous respect as a close partner.

"Bill France Jr. was a visionary and a tireless promoter of the NASCAR racing world," Grant said. "His sheer force of will and strength of character has brought NASCAR to the top of American sports culture.

"NASCAR participants and fans are a family, and we all feel a great sense of loss. But while we mourn the man, we rejoice in the spectacle that he created with his passion."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., as a new-age star on the stage France, his father and their families and employees created, never had the opportunity -- or dared -- to fashion the relationship his father, the late seven-time Cup champion, had with France.

France, a relatively low-key billionaire who did indulge himself and his close associates in one of his passions, an opulent fleet of watercraft based at the family marina on the inter coastal waterway in Daytona Beach, shared that love with Earnhardt.

And while France's profile at the track, which once was a weekly occurrence, had greatly lessened as Earnhardt Jr.'s star rose; the younger man certainly felt and appreciated the impact of France, who shared the elder Earnhardt's love for the outdoors.

"It's a profound loss for the sport," Earnhardt Jr. said. "His dad really started NASCAR, but he's the one probably most responsible for the state of our sport today. (Continued)