NASCAR's Brian France knows he's no car guy. He's all business and comfortable in those clothes.
By BRANT JAMES
Published February 12, 2004
[AP photo]
Off to the races: Check out the blog by Times sportswriter Brant James as he reports from Speed Weeks in Daytona Beach.
NASCAR's six-year, $2.8-billion television contract is evidence of Brian France's business savvy.
DAYTONA BEACH - Brian France gets casual by removing the silk tie and going with just the expensive tailored suit. He negotiates billion-dollar television contracts, speaks with the tact of a boardroom warrior and makes sweeping change when he thinks it is necessary. He controls a sporting empire that is the passion of 75-million fans, and he calls little old ladies in Iowa when their e-mails contend he is driving it into the ground.
At 41, he is one of the most powerful figures in sports.
But he oversees his domain in $10 gas station sunglasses.
"It's so funny," said Debbi Lester, France's executive assistant for 12 years, speaking in a hushed tone as if she is telling tales. "Brian is so buttoned-up and so organized, and he cannot keep a pair of sunglasses. We have a drawer here with five or six pairs that came from all over the country. He could go out and buy any amount of sunglasses he wants, but he goes out and gets these $10 things."
Perhaps France can be forgiven that one lapse in his organizational structure. He does, after all, have a lot to juggle. And by most accounts, he does it very well.
So sit by your phone. He might be calling this afternoon, especially if you have a problem with his first half year since succeeding his father, Bill France Jr., as NASCAR's chief executive officer.
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"The lady in Iowa was not happy," Brian France said. "When I first called her, she didn't think it was really me, and when she finally believed me, she went from "I can't believe you called me' to "I'm really glad you called me because you're really going to screw this up with this new points system.'
"And in the end, I didn't win her over. But she said, "At least you tried."'
It will be much the same with NASCAR's rank and file, the blue-jeaned and ball-capped sector that worries this 40-something in the suit is going to turn the sport into a made-for-televison spectacle. France's understanding of NASCAR's relationship with television is obvious. He was the point man in negotiating the landmark six-year, $2.8-billion contract.
"I expect it to be a whole lot different because Bill was different than his dad (former CEO Bill France Sr.)," seven-time champion Richard Petty said. "He thought more on the same field, but you've got to figure the two or three generations between (Brian and Bill Sr.), and the technology and growth of NASCAR and the people we deal with is so much more different. He is coming in as a young guy looking at it at a completely different point from where his dad did.
"His dad and his granddad were racers, they were car people and they looked at it that way. The cars are secondary to him. He's looking at all the stuff we do, the TV stuff, the extra stuff that they can make money off of from the tracks and stuff."
It's true, he's no racer. Brian France hopped into stock cars - "low-level, entry-level stuff," he said - without his family's knowledge when he was 23 and working in Portland, Ore. He sensed right away his place was in a business suit, not a firesuit.
"I knew pretty quick that was not my calling," France said. "I did not have any kind of ability and I knew it."
But he can negotiate, placate and deal-make, though he often needs a handful of bubble gum to get through meetings with the legal department. And that's why he's patient enough to wait for old-guard drivers like Petty to come around.
"I would love to be able to win everybody over all the time, but I am realistic enough to know people are skeptical, and that's perfectly understandable," France said. "I know they will take time to form opinions. But I will say this: people have been real fair, and they've given me a chance."
Bill France Jr. could not say the same. When he followed his father, the NASCAR founder, in January 1972, he was widely decried in the media and among fans as the death of the sport on a major level. Through a mix of pragmatism and force of will, France Jr. helped mold NASCAR into the phenomenon it has become.
Brian France watched and learned. Some current drivers watched as he watched and learned.
"We were in different places, I think, growing up," said driver Dale Jarrett, 47. "He was up in the press box playing while we were down in the infield. No, my memories of him are more of when I got to the Busch Series and being around Brian, being able to talk with him and knowing one day he was probably going to be in charge of all this, and his day has come.
"It's interesting to watch people grow and remember he was the person who was just kind of hanging around in the background and then came out as the marketing guru for the sport and brought a lot of good things for the sport. I think it's pretty cool to see that evolution."
Indeed, France has been training to oversee NASCAR'S next evolution for 20 years, since he quit a few credits short of a journalism degree at Central Florida and took a job managing one of the company's short tracks. He slowly began to percolate through the organization, broadening NASCAR's sponsor base outside typical automotive companies and opening offices in the non-traditional markets of New York and Los Angeles.
"The road map was always laid out for me," France said. "You had to run an operation and show you can get results at the smaller end of the business. I knew in my mid 20s this is what I wanted to do. ... If you're not thinking about it years in advance, you're probably not ready."
France's combination of charm and brokering ability will face its ultimate test in dealings with Speedway Motorsports CEO Bruton Smith. The flamboyant, outspoken Smith had an open feud with Bill France Jr. over his assertion that the former CEO had promised Texas Motor Speedway a second race date and then reneged. The France family owns rival International Speedway Corp., adding more intrigue to the dispute between two pugnacious businessmen.
Smith, whether floating a trial balloon or firing a final shot at France Jr., seemed hopeful the younger France would be someone with whom he can deal.
"I like Brian a lot," Smith said. "I have a lot of respect for Brian. I just hope he is willing to do something. That is the whole thing."
Bill France Jr. began preparing for his son's ascension when he started suffering from heart problems and cancer the past few years.
"I knew I would be handing it off to somebody," he said. "I'm pleased to say I had a son I thought I had grown into where he was ready. If he had no interest, I would have had to give it to someone else. I'm not going to live forever."
France Jr. made sure his son was ready, however, long before turning over the job in September.
"Bill Jr. has always been pretty firm," said NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter. "He's always been a tough guy in all aspects, and when Brian was coming up through the ranks, doing everything he was put in a position to do, Bill Jr. had a tough standard, which was a tough standard for all of us who were with him. But he had a tougher standard for Brian."
Brian France said the next generation of NASCAR CEO could be his nephew Benjamin, though that would be decades away. He hopes.
France knows he has job security. To a point.
"The expectations are high," he said. "There is a lot at stake. I feel that and I know that. I have to get results. I have to do my part. I know I have some job security, but at the end of the day, unlike anybody else, I have to answer for what I've done."
The first test of France's job performance will be driver and fan acceptance of a change in the way the champion is determined. Though France takes no credit for creating the so-called "Chase for the Championship," saying this is "the new NASCAR era, not the Brian France era," its success will be tied to him because its genesis began soon after his tenure began.
Perhaps in a sign that some of the uncertainty about France is a generational issue, Petty's driver/son Kyle, 43, is supportive.
"I give Brian France all the credit in the world for making a bold move and a bold statement like changing the points system," he said. "That says, "I'm in charge of this thing. I have a vision for this thing.' That's his NASCAR vision. Has he shared it with me? No. But as a member of NASCAR and a competitor in this organization, I have to say that's stout right there."
