Bill France Sr.

William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992) was an American businessman and racing driver.

He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill.

He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based stock car racing.

France was born in Washington, D. C., the son of Emma Graham, an immigrant from Ireland, and William Henry France.

His older brother James is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, after his death at 11.

Big Bill skipped school as a teenager to make laps in the family Model T Ford at the high-banked 1.5 mi board track near Laurel, Maryland.

He ran laps until there was just enough time to beat his father home.

France worked at several jobs before owning and operating his own service station.

He built his customer base by waking before dawn and crank-starting customers' cars in the middle of winter.

France was familiar with Daytona Beach's land speed record history when he moved his family from Washington D.C. to Daytona in the spring of 1935 to escape the Great Depression.

He had less than $100 in his pocket when they left D.C. He began painting houses, then worked at a local car dealership.

He set up a car repair shop in Daytona at 316 Main Street Station, still in existence today as an event and entertainment venue.

Malcolm Campbell and other land speed record competitors decided to stop competing for land speed records at Daytona in favor of the Bonneville Salt Flats later in 1935 because the track was getting too rutted.

Daytona had lost its claim to fame.

City officials were determined to keep speed-related events, events which had been a mid-winter source of revenue for area hotels and restaurants.

The race was 78 laps long (250 mi) for street-legal family sedans sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA) for cars built in 1935 and 1936.

The city posted a $5000 purse with $1700 for the winner.

The race was marred by controversial scoring and huge financial losses to the city.

Ticket-takers arrived to find thousands of fans already at the beach track.

The sandy turns at the ends of the track became virtually impassable with stuck and stalled cars.

Second and third-place finishers protested the results.

France finished fifth.

The city lost $22,000.

On March 8, 1936, the first stock car race was held on the Daytona Beach Road Course, promoted by local racer Sig Haugdahl.

Haugdahl talked with France, and together they got the Daytona Beach Elks Club to host another event on Labor Day weekend in September 1937.

The event was more successful but still lost money despite its $100 purse.

Haugdahl didn't promote any more events.

France took over the job of running the course in 1938.

There were two events in 1938.

Danny Murphy beat France in the July event.

France beat Lloyd Moody and Pig Ridings to win the Labor Day weekend event.

Three races each were held in 1939 and 1940.

France finished fourth in March, first in July, and sixth in September 1940.

Four events were held in 1941.

France was busy planning the 1942 event until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

France spent World War II working at the Daytona Boat Works while his wife Anne ran the filling station.

Most racing stopped until after the war.

Bill met Jim Johnstone Sr. in 1944 when Jim was stationed at Naval Air Station Daytona Beach, where Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is currently located.

Johnstone had been an auto mechanic in New Jersey, where his father built Indy car engines.

He met France at Bill's filling station and became his race car mechanic.