His Father's Son

From NASCAR's earliest years to today, sons have followed in their father's footsteps.

Each faced the heavy burden of sometimes unrealistic expectations, and some quite obviously fared better than others. There was Lee Petty, then Richard, then Kyle and finally Adam. Buck Baker started what Buddy Baker finished. Dale and Glenn Jarrett carried on the family tradition started by their father, Ned. Dale Earnhardt picked up where his daddy, Ralph, left off. Dale's boys, Kerry and Dale Jr., did the same.

Off the track, sons inherited the family legacy as well. Certainly, there's no better an example of that than the France family itself. Bill France served as NASCAR's judge and jury for the first 20-odd years of the sanctioning body's existence, and when his son, Bill Jr., took over the reins on Jan. 11, 1972, there were those who were sure he would fall squarely on his face.

"He didn't worry," said Jim Hunter, vice president of corporate communications for NASCAR and a close confidante of the younger France. "He focused on solutions to problems. People in the sport, a number of them anyway, thought Bill would fail. They had no idea how strong his work ethic was or how committed he would be to success. They soon found out."

If one quote best illustrates Bill France Jr.'s philosophy for his family's empire, it's one from 2002. Following an incident during a Truck Series race at Martinsville, NASCAR made the highly controversial decision to park Kevin Harvick for the next day's Cup race. In defending the move, France told reporters, "If yesterday's action had been ignored, people would have maybe looked at us as a paper tiger. We don't want that. We've got to maintain our credibility."

Paper tiger ... NASCAR? Not under Bill France Jr. Right, wrong or indifferent, its rule was law.

Bill France Jr. was not a leader far removed from those he commanded. Instead, he made it his business to be as well-versed as possible on each and every part of the family business. That familiarity bred an unprecedented era of success that began in the 1980s and carried into the '90s. (Continued)