USA TODAY International Edition
Dramatic change possible if France family sells
‘Big Bill’ started NASCAR in 1948
The concept of family thrives in auto racing, and particularly in NASCAR, perhaps more than in any other sport.
The Pettys. The Earnhardts. The Elliotts. The Wallaces. Bakers, Flocks, Waltrips, Allisons, Jarretts, Pearsons, Bodines, Andrettis, Unsers, etc.
Once a bloodline is mingled with racing fuel, the mix seems hard to separate.
Except now, maybe it will be, and in the most dramatic of family table settings.
The France family is considering selling NASCAR. The remarkable nature of that sentence makes it seem a requirement to repeat it: The France family is considering selling NASCAR.
Reports Monday confirmed rumblings that have percolated around NASCAR garages for months — that descendants of NASCAR founder William “Big Bill” France are working with financial concerns to determine levels of interest various entities might have in purchasing the organization. The discussions have been labeled “exploratory” by individuals aware of their nature, and it is not certain, or even likely, that a sale eventually will occur.
However, the relentless stream of “no comments” that followed Monday’s report by Reuters more or less confirms something serious is happening and that it could lead to one of the biggest developments in motor sports history.
The control of stock car racing at its highest levels has been held, often with extreme authority, as in the pistol Bill France Sr. sometimes carried, by France family members since cars first raced under the NASCAR banner in 1948.
France wrestled the various factions of a young, wildly disorganized sport into submission and put them under the control of one person — himself. He took on hotheaded drivers, unions, fly-bynight race promoters and a pack of people who told him it couldn’t be done, and he did it. He built speedways, expanded the sport across the country and made his version of stock car racing essentially the only one that mattered.
His son Bill Jr. followed and took the next logical steps, marrying the sport with television and setting the stage for the arrival of Fortune 500 companies to expand the foundation and boost credibility.
Things rolled along steadily for decades, with drivers, teams, tracks and NASCAR awash in dollars. Then a perfect storm of troubles arrived about a decade ago. The economy slumped, NASCAR struggled to find ways to keep its long races interesting and some of the sport’s more marketable stars began moving to the sideline.
Attendance and TV ratings dropped, and sponsors that had been reliable partners of the sport for years sought greener pastures. Under the watch of Brian France, Bill Jr.’s son and the third generation of the family to carry the sport’s flag, the best of times faded.
Brian France has not shown the same level of interest in the day-to-day, inthe-garage intricacies of the sport exhibited by his father and grandfather, and critics say there has been the lack of a strong central leader — a benevolent dictator who can make hard decisions both related to the quality of the racing and bigger-picture issues. The first two Frances definitely filled that role.
What’s next? It seems reasonable to expect that even a deflated NASCAR would attract considerable interest from potential buyers. The NASCAR idea continues to make money for a lot of people, if not in the hand-over-fist form once enjoyed. Television and other outlets in a constantly changing media landscape demand content, and NASCAR, with numerous series and steady diets of racing, qualifying and practicing, has plenty.
Liberty Media bought Formula One recently for $4.6 billion.
What would happen with new NASCAR owners? The potential for dramatic change exists, and much of it would be welcomed by many in the sport — fans and participants alike.
Some traditional fans loathe many of the changes, including playoff and stage racing, implemented under Brian France’s watch, but it’s unlikely the sport will ever return to awarding championships based on year-long points racing or any of the other incidentals fans associate with the “good old days.”
More likely would be a hard look at scheduling, and that would be a welcome approach among much of the garage crowd. NASCAR’s ties to its core schedule of generally the same tracks from year to year could stand some loosening, particularly as it involves awarding dates to newer facilities.
If there is a sale of the brand Big Bill France essentially formed from the labor of his own two hands, there will be much work ahead — discussions of television contracts, series sponsorships, “charter” agreements with team owners, contracts with tracks, status of team and driver advisory councils and a backstretch full of others.
That the France family might not be involved in that work is a possibility that, even on his most difficult days, William France couldn’t have imagined.