France steps down, Helton president

[John B]

Associated Press

Bill France Jr. stepped down Tuesday as president of NASCAR, the racing
circuit his father founded in the backwoods of the South that has grown
into a multibillion-dollar industry.

France, 67, who is recovering from cancer, was succeeded by Mike
Helton, NASCAR's senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Helton was picked two years ago by France to oversee its day-to-day
operations.

"Over the years, NASCAR has only had
two presidents -- my father and, since 1972,
me," France said. "But we put the wheels in
motion for this in February 1999 when we
named Mike chief operating officer.
Needless to say, he's done an excellent job."

The founding family will continue its
influence on the sport with Bill France
serving as chairman of a new five-member
board of directors that will include Jim
France, Bill's brother; Brian France, Bill's
son; Lesa Kennedy, Bill's daughter; and
Helton.

"In the past," France joked, "we'd have a
board meeting in the hall. My brother and I
would meet and shoot the breeze for a few minutes. This will be a lot
different."

Helton, 47, for years one of the most respected officials in NASCAR's
garage area, got into racing in 1980 as public relations director at Atlanta
International Raceway. Since starting work for the France family, he has
served as director of promotions at Daytona and general manager and
president at Talladega Superspeedway, moving to NASCAR's
administrative offices in 1994.

"I think this sport is on a good track and I just don't want to screw up
anything," Helton said.

France suffered a mild heart attack in 1997 and disclosed his cancer in
1999. He has missed many races this year while undergoing chemotherapy
and radiation treatments and beginning his recuperation. His appearance
earlier this month at the Pennzoil 400 at Homestead-Miami Raceway was
his first in public since early in the season.

"I've had a couple of issues on the side," said France, who added that he
had a cataract removed last week and could not read a prepared script.

But he said he has been able to come to work at his Daytona Beach, Fla.,
office nearly every day.

France's father, Bill France Sr., founded NASCAR in 1947. Under the
younger France, NASCAR grew from the tiny dirt tracks of the rural South
to a sport that is now worth $2.8 billion in TV rights.

In the last decade, TV ratings for NASCAR have risen, while those for
other sports have fallen. Sponsors annually pay as much as $15 million to
racing teams to have their logos emblazoned on their cars. There have
been no holdouts, lockouts or strikes to turn off its wildly enthusiastic fans.

Last year, 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the United States
were NASCAR races.

NASCAR fans cross just about all demographic lines and include those
who rooted for Richard Petty, the retired driver known simply as "The
King," all the way down to the younger generation's idols such as Jeff
Gordon and Tony Stewart.

Their interest has fueled a building boom in the sport that has added
gleaming new speedways in Texas, Las Vegas, suburban Chicago,
northern Kentucky and near Los Angeles, with others that will open in
2001 in Joliet, Ill., and Kansas City. Old tracks have been expanded and
refurbished.

Another key part of Tuesday's announcement was that George Pyne was
promoted to senior vice president and will take over operational
responsibilities for each of NASCAR's departments, reporting directly to
Helton.

"That's a very important part of this announcement because George is
going to give Mike some relief on the administrative side," France said.

Helton said Pyne will run NASCAR's day-to-day business.

"He has shown the ability to manage employees and organize the business
side of just about everything in NASCAR," Helton said.

Pyne previously worked in Charlotte as NASCAR's marketing and
licensing director, but will move to the main offices in Daytona Beach.

Jim France will continue as executive vice president and secretary. Brian
France, who was a senior vice president, was promoted to executive vice
president.

"A lot of this is formalizing what has been happening pretty much the last
two years," Bill France said. "The trick is to put together a good team of
people. This sport has gotten too big for one person to try to run
everything."

[Lee]

I must say that this took me a bit by supprise, but I don't really think things will change much. If you will notice, the Frances are still in control of NASCAR, and always will be. They are in a position to overrule Helton if he does things not to their liking.