NASCAR fans pay respects to France

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kathie Salemme and her family are die-hard NASCAR fans, planning their vacations around the racing schedule.

Wednesday, the family traveled to pay their respects to NASCAR trailblazer Bill France Jr., a man Salemme never met but considered an integral part of her family’s success.

“What Bill France built brings our family together,” Salemme, 47, of Columbia, S.C., said at the Daytona International Speedway. “His passing is tragic. He left a legacy, and I don’t know who is going to fill his shoes.”

Several hundred fans, NASCAR notables and others convened at Seabreeze United Church for a visitation Wednesday evening. France died Monday at his Daytona Beach home. He was 74.

“He was a no-nonsense type of individual with a great sense of humor,” ESPN NASCAR analyst and former NBA player Brad Daugherty said of France outside the visitation.

Daugherty said he had many memories of France, including spending time with him on France’s pontoon boat on the Halifax River.

Others who attended included Leonard Wood of Wood Brothers Racing; Hurley Haywood, a five-time Rolex 24 winner; Tim Brewer, a NASCAR commentator with ESPN and former Junior Johnson crew chief; and Dennis Huth, president of the American Speed Association.

France, who spent 31 years at NASCAR’s helm, is credited with transforming the family business from its Southern roots to a multibillion-dollar enterprise. He took over in 1972 from his father, who founded NASCAR in 1947. But in 2000, he relinquished his role as NASCAR president to Mike Helton, then handed off chairman duties to son Brian in 2003.

At the speedway France Jr. literally helped build fans left flowers at a makeshift memorial at a statue of France’s parents, William and Anne France.

A public funeral is planned today.