Bill France Jr. has died.

[dwboogityfan]

RIP Bill France Jr, the man who transformed NASCAR into the sport it is today.
It has been a tough year so far with the losses of Bobby Hamilton, Benny Parsons and now Bill.
My prayers go out to his family.

[harvick#1]

When Jr stepped down, Nascar itself also died

RIP Bill

[muggle not]

We lost a real pioneer in racing. R.I.P.

[F1boat]

RIP!

[colinspooky]

DW and Mike Joy were almost in tears at the end of the Dover race.

Truex was also told by his boss to remember France in his after-race speech - he didn't .... wonder why.

[RaceFanStan]

We will miss you Bill Jr.

However I am sure Dale, Neil, Davey, Alan, Adam, Kenny & all the rest that went before are glad to see you.
When you stepped down, things started changing & now your voice of reason has moved to a higher level.
The fans can only hope that what your dad started & what you nurtured can carry on into the future.

[Chaparral66]

I think the thing I respected and admired the most about Bill France Jr. is his persistence. He had a sport that was growing but still was not taken seriously by the mainstream media, or even certain segments of the motorsports media. But he persisted. He worked to bring new sponsors into the sport, which brought more fans, and then soon you couldn't just ignore NASCAR anymore.

And when advertisers early on didn't seem interested the sport, he reserved facilities at the Waldorf-Astoria, right in the heart of New York where Madison Avenue could see up close and personal the fan following NASCAR enjoyed.

He continued to improve the product, he marketed not only the sport but the people who made it happen. When special drivers came along like Dale Earnhardt who caught the public's fancy, Bill Jr. didn't treat him like a threat to his ego, as has been done in other sports, he embraced and promoted him and helped build his sport's audience in the process. He did the same thing with Jeff Gordon, who was kid compared with people like Earnhardt, proving he recognized NASCAR's future.

Of course, it wasn't all just business smarts. Sometimes luck played into it, and Bill France was savvy enough to captialize on it. When most of America, especially the Northeast, was shuttered indoors due to heavy winter weather and starving for sports, they had only The Daytona 500, broadcast on CBS live flag to flag, with an exciting finish (Richard Petty's 7th win) followed by a fight by three of the sport's icons (Donnie and Bobby Allison, and Cale Yarbrough). Since there were no other sports going on that day, this race got tons of coverage and was the launching pad for NASCAR's growth in the 80's and the return of manufacturer involvement.

And through it all, the naysayers continued to jeer at it; but the fans kept coming, and soon, big name sponsors followed STP who had partnered up with Petty Enterprises, and France Jr. kept his feet on the ground, not letting his head get too big, and always staying focused on the next goal or challenge.

Big Bill France built NASCAR; Bill France Jr. shaped it into a powerful force and made sure everybody knew about it.

Rest In Peace, Bill France, Jr.