Bill france sr biography of rory
Home / Biography Templates & Examples / Bill france sr biography of rory
France envisioned an enclosed, paved track with amenities for both teams and spectators. “Big Bill” France passed away in June 1992. The hardest thing for him to do was to keep a straight face when he went down to the tire dealer to complain about the tires wearing out on his Model T.
France became a service station owner and determined that if he had to help get customers’ cars started, he might as well do it where the weather was warm.
To this day, Daytona is the spiritual center of stock car racing, and the Daytona 500 one of the most sought after championships in all of racing.
A decade later, in 1969, France would raise the bar again, opening the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. It opened in 1969.
Finally, there is the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, located adjacent to Talladega Superspeedway.
The sport was haphazard and lacked respect. It became the circuit which provided motorsports with many of its greatest drivers and events. 12 degrees at Indy), France had paved the way for the superspeedway concept. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
In 1950, NASCAR Hall of Famers Bill France and Curtis Turner participated in the La Carrera Panamericana road race across Mexico.
At 2.66 miles, it is the largest and fastest track in the world. Visionary that he was, even Bill France himself could not have envisioned this result when he called together a small group of people in a Daytona meeting room in 1947.
Bill France, Sr.
Called “Big Bill,” only partly because of his 6 foot, 5 inch stature, France spearheaded NASCAR from its beginning and directed it to its present status as the world’s largest stock car racing organization.
- Inducted: 2010
- Position:Founder
The Founder of NASCAR
In 1936, he helped lay out the first beach/road course in Daytona Beach; in the first race on the course he finished fifth.
From humble beginnings, he directed it through uncertain growth and into the multimillion-dollar industry it is today.
Along the way, he saw come into being three visions: visions that would enhance the entire world of racing. But the sport lacked race tracks, race promoters, respect and, most importantly, rules. So he took his wife Anne, his young son Bill Jr., a set of tools, $25 cash and a Hupmobile and headed for Florida.
At nearly 2.7 miles, it is still the largest and fastest oval track in the world.
Class of 1990
The big man had big dreams – and he made them come true. He would often play hooky to catch the races at the high-banked board track in Laurel, Md. He even managed to get the family car on the track for a few laps. When they got to Daytona Beach, France thought it was the prettiest place he’d ever seen, so they settled there.
In 1936, the city of Daytona Beach promoted a stock car race and lost money.
That vision became reality in 1959, when France opened the Daytona International Speedway.