Going strong

NASCAR patriarch France makes his presence felt

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There was no shortage of NASCAR news during Tuesday’s second installment of the 2003 media tour -- the annual shop-to-shop gauntlet sponsored by UAW-GM Motorsports (and presented by Lowe’s Motor Speedway).

During a press session at NASCAR’s new Concord, N.C., research and development center, officials announced a garage-access policy for 2003. Those guidelines will limit access to garage and pit areas during periods when the track is "hot" -- when cars are running or practicing -- and officials are in the process of hiring a director of security.

NASCAR also served notice of 2004 schedule changes, citing a nearly maxed-out 36-race schedule. With little room for expansion, date-changing is the only way to reach new areas of the country, or maximize the sport’s exposure, NASCAR brass said. And beginning this season, officials will work with track officials to help determine if races can be switched to different facilities or dates to take advantage of ticket sales, seasonal perks or better media exposure.

That’s the mundane news.

The real news may have come when NASCAR patriarch Bill France sprang from his front-row seat on this rainy, chilly Tuesday. He did it to clarify a point made by his son, Brian France, one of NASCAR’s executives. But the sound of his voice over a microphone mimicked an electrical current through the room.

"With Speed Weeks being around the corner, he has some definite ideas and thoughts for all of us, which is terrific," said daughter Lesa France Kennedy, another NASCAR executive. "And I think he’s stronger than ever."

Physical strength has been a personal issue for the elder France in recent years. He’s battled prostate cancer, a broken hip and heart bypass surgery while NASCAR president Mike Helton has become more the public embodiment of the sanctioning body’s leadership.

Now, with the cancer licked and last summer’s hip and bypass problems in his rearview mirror, France seems to be reasserting his presence and his opinions.

"I think you’re going to see more of him at the track," said Kennedy, adding that her father has a clean bill of health. "I think you’ll continue to see him in public. I’m not sure what kind of role he’ll choose for himself as he goes on down the road. It’s clear that this is his priority. He has a lot of choices at this point in his life, and this is truly his priority."

"It hasn’t been my idea not to be here," France said. "I had an accident last summer, which was unexpected, so I got waylaid for the last half of the year. But I’m getting back where I’m kind of going again."

And he has no shortage of influence. The problem of garage overcrowding, and its possible solutions, are high on his list. He’s adamant that garage autographs and fan access -- two cornerstones of the sport’s popularity -- continue, but he knows parameters are necessary.

"We were going to be the last one to tell that sponsor, 'No autographs,'" he said of the most common visitors to the garage, sponsor guests. "But if [a driver is] walking from his hauler over to his race car to talk to his crew chief, he needs to get over there and get that done and not get waylaid, which is kind of what’s happening now."

The 2004 schedule changes are a thornier topic. A stockholder of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the parent company of Texas Motor Speedway, has sued NASCAR over an alledged promise of a second race at Texas. A Tuesday suggestion that the schedule changes might give SMI chairman Bruton Smith an opportunity to solve that second-date problem was met with denial.

"You guys talk about that," France said to a pressing thong of cameras and tape recorders. "I haven’t thought about that."

He’d been just as stringent earlier, when he’d jumped up to interject this clarification:

"This is going to be available to every track operator," France said. "If Dover would like to take one of their races and shift it to St. Louis or Nashville, or if Bruton would like to take an Atlanta race and shift it to Texas, where they can sell all their tickets, from what I read, we’re going to be entertaining that.

"I think I’m putting that clear out there. We’re calling this 'Realignment 2004 and Beyond.' That’s a key word you’re going to hear more about as the year goes on."

And the work goes on. France says he’s feeling good, both about his own health and the core leadership headed by Helton.

"We’ve got a good group of people," France said. "I didn’t get up there [on stage] today. I did stand up there when I didn’t think a message was getting delivered properly -- I thought it needed some clarification. But I think they did an excellent job of putting on a good presentation. So we got a good crew of people. And I’ve been upside down the last six months. The races have come and the races have gone, and they’ve done well."

Even though he’s been sick and sometimes out of commission during the past several years, France apparently hasn’t been out of touch.

"It’s not as big an issue for us," said George Pyne, NASCAR’s chief operating officer. "We’re either talking to him or meeting with him. He’s across the hallway, and he’s there every day. And you’re usually called in. I haven’t noticed a big difference myself in the last year or so."

Helton says France’s presence is far more important than just an impression.

"There’s a few of us left that knew Bill Sr.," said Helton of NASCAR’s founder and France’s father. "And the truth of the matter is, down the road -- I hope it’s many years to come -- there’s going to be a lot of folks around that never met Bill France. So I think any of us that have an opportunity to share time with him now ought to take advantage of it."

Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.

 

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