ESPN.com has learned that 70-year-old chairman and CEO of NASCAR, Bill France Jr., is stepping aside and putting his 37-year-old son, Brian, behind the wheel of the stock car series that has mushroomed into a marketing monster and America’s No. 2 sports pastime behind pro football. A source close to Nextel, which assumes title sponsorship of NASCAR in 2004, confirmed this changing of the guard will be announced early next week.
“Only a few people know but it’s not really that big a surprise when you think about it,” said the source. “And Big Bill will still be around to show Brian the ropes.” Bill France Jr. denied the report that he is about to retire and turn over control to Brian, but did say he will cut back further on his daily activities. Brian France couldn’t immediately be reached for comment in his Los Angeles office on Friday afternoon.
Currently president of NASCAR’s broadcasting and digital entertainment, France will assume the duties of chairman and CEO immediately and move back to company headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla. He will also leapfrog current NASCAR boss, Mike Helton, and that could explain the recent rumors that Helton is going to leave NASCAR for a job with Dale Earnhardt Inc.
In an interview with USA Today earlier this year, Big Bill was asked about who might replace him: “Mike Helton has come on, his name is not France, and I think he’s done an excellent job in the competition area,” was his reply.(more at ESPN.com /Robin Miller)
AND NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. denied a report that he is about to retire and turn over control of the racing circuit to son Brian, but said he will cut back further on his daily activities. “I’m still going to work and have an office, but it’s time for me to get out of the way a little bit,” France told The Associated Press by telephone Friday night from his home in Daytona Beach, Fla.
He was responding to a report earlier Friday that he would relinquish all control. The report from ESPN.com cited a source close to Nextel, which assumes title sponsorship next year of the world’s largest auto racing circuit. He did concede that his son would be the logical replacement should he retire, and said some organizational changes have been decided on. He would not reveal what they were, but said president Mike Helton would continue to head daily operations. “All that will be cleared up on Monday,” France said. “Mike’s been doing the day-to-day stuff for some time now.” Helton denied reports last month that he would leave NASCAR to run Dale Earnhardt Inc., one of the sport’s top teams.
Brian France, 37, is president of NASCAR’s broadcasting and digital entertainment division in Los Angeles. The source said he would assume the duties of chairman and CEO immediately and move back to company headquarters in Daytona Beach. He is the youngest of the France children. His sister, Lesa France Kennedy, is the president of family-controlled International Speedway Corp., which owns and operates 12 of NASCAR’s major tracks. Jim France, who is Bill Jr.’s younger brother by 18 years, serves as NASCAR vice chairman and executive vice president.(more at ThatsRacin.com/AP )(9-12-2003)
AND II William C. France’s 31-year reign as NASCAR’s benevolent dictator is expected to wind down as a shift of power and responsibilities within the organization begins next week. The 70-year-old NASCAR chairman is expected to give his son, Brian Z. France, more control of the company. Bill France Jr. denied reports that he is about to retire and give complete control of the racing empire to his son, but admitted he plans to cut back on his daily business activities. But a confidant of the France family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday night that “ESPN.com doesn’t have it completely right, but there is something going on” within NASCAR’s leadership. The lack of response from any of NASCAR’s top officials was deafening Friday evening. Phone calls to NASCAR’s public relations department here and its entertainment office in Los Angeles were not returned to The News-Journal.(more at the Daytona Beach News Journal )(9-13-2003)