Bill France Jr. left impact on people as well as business

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A popular debate earlier this year pitted supporters of Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon in a dispute over who was a greater Cup Series driver.

It was an irreconcilable dispute over different drivers who ruled different times with different cars and different competition.

But one thing is irrefutable -- without Bill France Jr., the debate would have been moot.

William C. France, NASCAR's vice chairman and International Speedway Corporation's chairman, who died Monday at age 74, was as much "the man" for his time in NASCAR as his father, William H.G. France, was for his era 25 years before.

And in carrying forward and nurturing the sport that he, too, had grown up within and around the younger France, known to many in his hometown on the mid-Florida shore as just plain "Bill," created a worldwide stage that Earnhardt and later Gordon would dominate in their respective primes.

A big difference with France, however, was that, even as he stepped out of the highest-profiled positions he'd held at his family businesses, he still held tremendous influence over many of their decisions.

As his father had done before him, France spent many more days at his office than you'd expect from a "retired" individual. In later years he reveled in all the latest technological gadgets, and never lost his rapier-like wit -- quick and sharp.

"Bill France Jr. was an institution in sports and an inspiration to all who live and love stock-car racing," said David Levy, president of Turner Sports, one of NASCAR's broadcast partners. "Throughout Turner's 22-year relationship with NASCAR, Bill remained an emphatic visionary, astute business partner and dedicated colleague and friend. We will miss him for his contributions both on and off the track."

It barely mattered if someone was in the sport for decades, years or months. It was almost a certainty to be impressed by the man.

Gordon, who in total has competed in NASCAR for little more than half of the 30 years France spent at NASCAR's helm, still has no trouble grasping what France brought to his sport.

"He meant everything to it and to me," Gordon said. "I can remember going to his father's funeral and at that time, seeing Bill Jr. just come along and take a hold of this sport and take it to the next level. He was a voice and personality that took this sport to another level." (Continued)