The People Of NASCAR: William Henry France

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[image:387:l:s=1:l=http://thunderlounge.com/articles/nascar/features/the-people-of-nascar/]Innovator? No. Disgruntled driver tired of not getting paid prize money for races? Yes!! “Big” Bill France had a knack for organizing things, and was tired of race promoters running out on prize money. He decided to organize stock car racing in 1947.

Born on September 26, 1906 in Washington, DC, he found out he was mechanically inclined while working on tractors on his father’s Virginia farm. In 1934 Big Bill moved his budding family to Florida and settled in Daytona Beach. France competed in a number of races in Florida, including the first race held on the famous Daytona Beach Road Course in 1936. In 1940 stock car drivers considered him the best in the league.

In 1946 Big Bill got out from behind the wheel to promote the budding sport of stock car racing. Glen Wood of the famous Wood Brothers Racing team was quoted as saying, “He [Big Bill] had more foresight than anyone could imagine.”

1947 Big Bill started the National Championship Stock Car Circuit, the predecessor to NASCAR. These governing bodies of stock car racing made promoters give money to officials to ensure the drivers received their prize money, and guaranteed that all drivers would receive some compensation for their efforts.

Big Bill believed in the untapped potential of the stock car circuit and the down home personalities of his drivers. He believed he could make a dynasty out of a touring circuit, with multi races and a point system to provide an undisputed stock car champion. He believed that this would make it interesting to a wide variety of people.

With a growing popularity of sports in general, he believed in marketing his drivers much like baseball players and to make them sound as down home as possible. This would bring his new sport to more than just sports marketing.

His care for everyone involved in the sport was evident when he guaranteed prize money, honored the driver with most points at the end of the season, and offered a large fund for any driver injured during a race (first sport to offer this).

In 1959, Big Bill opened the Daytona International Speedway with the understanding that a growing sport needed the best facilities. Big Bill took a firm stance in 1961 when the Teamsters Union tried to move into NASCAR by Banning any driver who would sign with the union. Trying to get television to cover live races began in 1962, but was not successful until 1970. The first green to checkered coverage happened in the now infamous 1979 Talladega race. In 1974 he had to fight politicians to keep the sport going as an energy shortage had engulfed the country.

All of this happened before there was a Petty, Earnhardt, or Allison, names for which this sport is known. These were the building blocks of our sport today, laid by the pioneers of NASCAR.

See Y’all Next Week

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, Nascar History, The People Of Nascar





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