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Brian France

Brian France
Person

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Wikipedia: Brian France Page Sections Biography Article Index

Born: 2 August 1962

Chairman of the Board and CEO of NASCAR beginning in 2003.

Biography

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Brian France page on 19 September 2019, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Brian Zachary France is an American businessman who is the former CEO and Chairman of NASCAR serving in the post from 2003 to 2018. A third generation executive in the sport of stock car racing, France followed in the footsteps of his grandfather (and NASCAR co-founder) Bill France Sr. and father Bill Jr. in running NASCAR. Time magazine named him one of the "100 Most Influential of the Century" in 2006 and he was named one of the five most powerful sports executives by The Sporting News in 2005.

France grew up in the racing world, learning the logistics of NASCAR from a young age; though he was able to enter the family business, he did not have a trust fund. His first job in racing was as a janitor at the Talladega Superspeedway. France studied at the University of Central Florida but did not earn a degree. Following his first few years of classes, he instead entered the NASCAR company in order to learn the family business.

France managed several short tracks, including Tucson Raceway Park in Arizona in the earlier years of his career. He also ran the NASCAR Entertainment Division in Los Angeles during the 1990s, creating associations between NASCAR and the entertainment industry. This included Hollywood films and projects advertising on NASCAR vehicles, the appearance of actors and other entertainers during NASCAR events, and NASCAR figures themselves becoming integrated into reality television, television dramas, cartoons, soap operas, Hollywood feature films, music videos, and mass paperback novels. In 1995, he became the creator of the Craftsman Truck Series, which was launched from the competition department under his tenure there. Following this he became the head of the marketing department, where he endeavoured to grow the product's youth audience, and began to move the company away from its title sponsor Winston cigarettes in order to facilitate this. His final position before becoming CEO was executive vice-president; he was also on the board of directors.

In 2003, France was named NASCAR's Chairman of the Board and CEO by his father, who preceded him. One of his first actions was to create a new rule that drivers were no longer allowed to race back to the start/finish line when under caution. After assuming control of NASCAR, France negotiated a title sponsorship from Sprint Nextel. He also introduced the Chase for the Sprint Cup over the transition period, receiving a $4.5 billion television contract for the initial ten race seasons, in addition to a later multibillion-dollar deal with NBC. Part of the Chase was to award more points to significant or "spectacular" wins instead of consistent winning, as NASCAR had previously done, introducing it as a form of "post-season" for the sport. He also made an effort to expand the audience base of NASCAR to minorities, and allowed Toyota vehicles to begin competing on the NASCAR circuit. He has also overseen NASCAR during a period of ratings drops, as well as attendance going down 15% over the period of his tenure, despite record television deals.

On August 5, 2018, France was pulled over by the Sag Harbor, New York police after driving through a stop sign in the Hamptons, and subsequently arrested for DUI and possession of a controlled substance, later revealed to be Oxycodone. After his release, he announced that he would be taking an "indefinite leave of absence" from his role as CEO and chairman of NASCAR. It was later deemed permanent in 2019, with Jim France going on to take over the job permanently as chairman of NASCAR.

Article Index

Date	Article	Author/Source
19 June 2003	NASCAR Media Conference	Tim Donahue Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Brian France Bill France
15 September 2003	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Bill France
20 January 2004	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton
14 May 2004	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
24 January 2005	NASCAR Media Conference: A Look Back & a Look Ahead	Kurt Busch Brian France Kasey Kahne Mark Martin Richard Petty Darrell Waltrip
28 June 2005	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Jeff Gordon
8 October 2005	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton
11 November 2005	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton
25 January 2006	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton Gary Nelson Tish Sheets
18 February 2006	NASCAR Busch Series: Hershey's Kissables 300	Clint Bowyer Brian France Tony Stewart
6 March 2006	NASCAR Hall of Fame Press Conference	Mark Dyer Brian France Mike Helton Rick Hendrick Pat McCrory
29 June 2006	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Jimmie Lee Hunter
22 January 2007	NASCAR Media Conference	Brett Bodine Brian France Mike Helton Marcus Jadotte Robin Pemberton
13 February 2007	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
3 July 2007	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
7 July 2007	NASCAR Media Conference: Sprint Cup Series Announcement	Brian France Tim Kelly Dean Kessel Tom Murphy
3 October 2007	NASCAR Media Conference	Joe Balash Brian France James Lyski Steve Phelps
21 January 2008	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton Marcus Jadotte Robin Pemberton George Silbermann
23 October 2008	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Marcus Lemonis
9 November 2008	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
11 November 2008	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
22 January 2009	NASCAR Sprint Media Tour Conference	Brian France Mike Helton Marcus Jadotte Winston Kelley Jim O'Connell Steve O'Donnell Robin Pemberton Steve Phelps
15 May 2009	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
3 July 2009	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
7 October 2009	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France David Hill David Levy John Skipper
20 November 2009	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
21 January 2010	NASCAR Media Tour Presentation	Wayne Auton Joe Balash Richard Buck John Darby Brian France Mike Helton Robin Pemberton
23 May 2010	NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: Bill France, Jr. (Part 4/6)	Ken Clapp Brian France Lesa France Kennedy Rick Hendrick
23 May 2010	NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony	Brian France Lesa France Kennedy
2 July 2010	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
16 October 2010	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Bob Owens Robin Pemberton
19 November 2010	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
2 December 2010	NASCAR Media Conference	Jeff Broin Wesley Clark Brian France Bart Schott
2 December 2010	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
26 January 2011	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton
20 May 2011	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
23 May 2011	NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: Bud Moore	Brian France Barney Hall Bud Moore
9 October 2011	Betty Jane France Award Presentation Conference	Patty Aber Jake Bernstein Brenda Doner Brian France Sandy Marshall Robert Weaver
18 November 2011	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
26 January 2012	NASCAR Sprint Media Tour	Joie Chitwood, III Brian France Mike Helton Marcus Jadotte Robin Pemberton
19 May 2012	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Jimmie Johnson Nick Keller Juan Pablo Montoya Steve Phelps
23 May 2012	NASCAR Media Conference: NASCAR Hall of Fame Announcement	Brian France Brett Jewkes
6 July 2012	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
17 November 2012	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
22 January 2013	NASCAR Media Conference	Joie Chitwood, III Brian France Mike Helton Steve O'Donnell Robin Pemberton
25 May 2013	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France
23 July 2013	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Steve Herbst Mark Lazarus
13 September 2013	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton
14 September 2013	NASCAR Media Conference	Brian France Mike Helton Robin Pemberton
11 April 2015	Random Lugnuts: Trying Too Hard (A Defense of Brian France and NASCAR)	">Bill Crittenden
29 February 2016	Donald J. Trump Endorsed by NASCAR CEO and Drivers Today Donald J. Trump was endorsed by Brian France, Chairman & CEO of NASCAR, popular retired driver Bill Elliott, and active drivers Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, and David Lee Regan.	Press Release (text) Organization: Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. Topics: NASCAR, Brian France, Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, David Ragan