NASCAR Vice Chairman Bill France Jr. died today at his home in Daytona Beach at age 74. He was largely responsible for NASCAR's mainstream popularity. His dad started NASCAR and Jr. took over in 1972. He signed RJ Reynolds Tobacco as the title sponsor in 1973. He then proceeded to recruit mainstream corporations as sponsors and getting the 1979 Daytona 500 national exposure on CBS was the first step in NASCAR's rise as a sport. It just keeps getting bigger. France was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and passed the Chairman torch to his son Brian France in 2003. Appropriately, his death was announced during today's FOX broadcast of the Dover Nextel Cup race. The race was rained out yesterday. The race went on and Martin Truex Jr. won his first Nextel Cup race. RIP Bill France Jr.
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