Unlike his father and grandfather before him, Brian France brings a marketing background steeped in college and seasoned real world experience to NASCAR.

He is a man more comfortable in delegating responsibilities instead of ruling with unquestioning authority. He is a man more at ease talking to a board of directors than chatting up a star driver. He is a man whose very existence relies on racing, although he couldn’t tell you what makes one of his cars go so fast.

But make no mistake: Brian France is just like his grandfather and father before him. NASCAR is more than America’s top form of motorsports. It’s a family business that measures success in both personal and material ways. It begs to be different than its stick-and-ball counterparts. It starts the season with its biggest race–the Feb. 18th Daytona 500 – and it remains the longest professional sport season in the world, stretching all the way to Thanksgiving weekend with 36 regular season races and a pair of all-star events.

Much as the grizzled hand of George Halas founded the National Football League, the shear will of cantankerous gas station owner Bill France founded NASCAR. While many questioned his vision, nobody questioned his authority as the only voice that mattered, especially since justice sometimes was served with a fist or a revolver.

His son, Bill France Jr., was just as tough. But as Vince Lombardi took the NFL to its next logical step, France Jr. convinced television that stock car racing was must-see TV. And he brought in a national sponsor in Winston.

When Brian took control in 2003, NASCAR already was at warp speed toward its position as the second most-popular sport in the U.S. But the third-generation France, 44, took the sport to unfathomable levels. “I’ve been fortunate to spend my entire life in this sport and have worked with some of the giants who made NASCAR what it is today, starting with my father and my grandfather, ” Brian France said, “I certainly hope I don’t let them down.”

More at hofmag.com

Bookmark to: