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Meet the American who created NASCAR: Bill France Sr., Daytona speed demon, racetrack pioneer
Bill France Sr. was born with a mind for business, a gift for people and a need for speed.
He turned those passions into a nationwide obsession with stock car racing.
France founded the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing — NASCAR — on Feb. 21, 1948, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
NASCAR has grown into the world’s premier stock car racing circuit. “Big Bill,” as he was known, is the unquestioned godfather of the autosport.
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“His story is a great American success story,” NASCAR historian Ken Martin told Fox News Digital.
“And NASCAR is the great American sport.”
Bill France Sr. in the pre-NASCAR days. France, a native of Washington, D.C., moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in his 20s, ran an auto shop and raced cars before founding NASCAR in 1948. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
Stock cars, at least in the sport’s earliest years, were essentially production-model cars turned into racing vehicles.
“Bill’s vision was to basically take cars from the assembly line and put them on the racetrack to see who built the better car, the faster car, the more durable car,” said Martin.
“His story is a great American success story.” — NASCAR historian Ken Martin
“He knew Americans could relate to the vehicles on the racetrack. He also knew he could generate support from Detroit by pitting Chevys against Fords.”
Much as football is a largely American sports phenomenon — other countries dabble in it — stock car racing remains a largely American form of auto competition.
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Bill France Sr. was enamored with auto racing as a child and became a master of auto mechanics. He also had a passion for putting his mechanical skills to the test behind the wheels of race cars.
Bill France Sr. looks on from the track he created circa 1959 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
“He was a gearhead,” said Martin. “But also a competitor.”
France boasted mechanical knowledge, fearlessness behind the wheel, a towering physical stature (6 foot 5 inches) and a charismatic personal presence.
He commanded respect from the toughest drivers in the nation — the proverbial backwoods moonshine runners who fueled the early pool of race-car drivers.
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“Well, let’s just say he ‘ran the show,’” NASCAR legend Richard Petty wrote in the foreword to “Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.,” a 2015 biography by H.A. Branham.
“Let’s just say he ‘ran the show.’ — NASCAR legend Richard Petty of Bill France Sr.
“It was ‘his show’ and I think that everybody that raced in NASCAR for him knew it was ‘his show.’”
“The big man had big dreams,” writes the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame, “and he made them come true.”
Birthplace of NASCAR
Bill France Sr. was born on Sept. 26, 1909 in Washington, D.C., to William Henry France and Emma (Graham) France, his mother an immigrant from Ireland.
Bill France Sr., was an early open-wheel race driver long before he embraced the future with full-bodied stock cars. Here he shows off this Model T-based sprinter at a track in Maryland in 1931. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
He fueled his passion for speed as a teenager by racing his Model T at a wooden track in Laurel, Maryland.
He moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1934 with his wife, Anne (Bledsoe) — a nurse and North Carolina native — plus their year-old son Bill Jr. with only “a set of tools and $25 cash,” according to one origin legend.
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All three Frances became transformational figures in NASCAR.
Anne served as a longtime NASCAR executive. Bill Jr. took over NASCAR from his father, running the circuit from 1972 until 2000.
Despite arriving in Daytona during the depths of the Great Depression, Bill Sr. landed a job working for local mechanic Saxton Lloyd. It was an opportunity for which France would show his gratitude years later.
He opened his own service station and became a prominent local mechanic while racing cars on Daytona Beach.
The city’s legendary beach-street course raced two miles up the sand, turned on a ramp, then sped two miles back down State Route A1A on pavement before repeating the circuit.
Daytona Beach hosted its first beach-street race in 1936. France finished fifth as a driver, while serving as the pre-race mechanic for winning driver Milt Marion, behind the wheel of a Ford.
“By 1938 the city realized they were not the best at promoting racing,” said Martin. “They asked France to help promote it.”
Sports entertainment exploded across America in the years after the war.
World War II interrupted Daytona’s effort to become the hub of stock car racing.
France put his mechanical abilities toward the war effort.
Before he became “Mr. NASCAR,” Bill France Sr. was a prosperous Daytona Beach garage owner and gasoline retailer. France’s gas station at 316 Main Street was also a haven for area racers anxious to have work performed on their race cars. This 1940s business card shows “Big Bill’s” inventiveness. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
“Bill Sr., at age 32, was not eligible for the draft and went to work building ‘subchasers’ at the Daytona Boat Works — a major employer of Volusia County residents,” writes biographer Branham.
Sports entertainment exploded across America in the years after the war. The NBA was founded in 1946. Pro football expanded to the West Coast the same year when the NFL Rams moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles.
France added stock car racing to the national menu of sports options.
The rival new All-America Football Conference was also founded in 1946, with familiar franchises such as the 49ers, Browns and Colts soon absorbed by the NFL.
France added stock car racing to the national menu of sports options.
He led a meeting with other drivers, mechanics and auto enthusiasts in December 1947 at Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to make plans for a new professional stock car racing circuit with uniform rules, regulations and standards.
A series of three meetings convened at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach to establish criteria for professional stock car racing, leading to NASCAR’s formation. On Dec. 14, 1947: Front row, kneeling (L-R), Chick DiNatale, Jimmy Quisenberry, Ed Bruce, Jack Peters, Alvin Hawkins. Back row, standing (L-R), Freddie Horton, Sam Packard, Ed Samples (hidden), Joe Ross, Marshall Teague, Bill Tuthill, Joe Littlejohn, Bob Osiecki, Buddy Shuman, Lucky Sauer (hidden), Tom Galan, Eddie Bland, Bill France Sr., Bob Richards, Harvey Tattersall Jr., Fred Dagavar, Bill Streeter, Jimmy Cox. (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
NASCAR was formed two months later, with France its chief executive.
The site of the Streamline Hotel “stands to this day as a racing landmark,” says the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
‘World Center of Racing’
Daytona was a magnet for speed enthusiasts in the earliest days of the automobile — long before France arrived and even before France was born.
One of the gas stations Bill France Sr. operated in Daytona Beach, Florida, around the time NASCAR was formed in 1947 is shown here. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)
“On the hard-packed sands of Florida’s east coast, the idea of racing automobiles became a reality in 1903,” writes Michael Hembree in “NASCAR: The Definitive History of America’s Sport.”
“At Ormond Beach, north of Daytona, wealthy winter visitors to the resort area eyed the long flat beach stretches as an ideal landscape for tinkering with their toys.”
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The region’s hard, flat beaches made it the perfect proving ground for daredevils of the day, who topped 200 miles per hour in the straight-shot speed efforts.
English racer Sir Malcolm Campbell astounded onlookers by reaching a record speed of 278.6 MPH on Daytona Beach in 1935, propelled over the land by an aircraft engine.
Fans react in 1940 as a driver rolls his car during a stock car race on the Daytona Beach-Road Course. Three races were held on the beach that year and were won by Roy Hall, Bill France (later the founder of NASCAR) and Buck Mathis. A special “ladies only” race was also held; it attracted 13 contestants, including France’s wife Anne. Evelyn Reed won the event. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)
Auto enthusiasts soon found an even better proving ground out west: the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.
The salt flats were harder, straighter and faster, without the inconvenience or even danger of rising tides.
Daytona lost one of its cash cows. It turned to racing as a way to replace the business lost to Bonneville, said Martin.
“Daytona was looking to plug a hole in its economy,” said Ken Martin, when it tapped France to help promote its beach-street races in the 1930s.
“France put his plans for the future of racing in Daytona Beach, Florida, in motion on April 4, 1953, with a proposal to construct a permanent speedway facility,” reports the speedway in an online account of its history.
Before the asphalt was laid, Bill France Sr., and members of his NASCAR staff parked these cars on a turn of the under-construction Daytona International Speedway in December 1958. France gambled nearly everything he owned in building the facility that is known as “The World Center of Racing.” (ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
He envisioned, planned and funded the racetrack of the future: Daytona International Speedway.
“France put his plans for the future of racing in Daytona Beach, Florida, in motion on April 4, 1953, with a proposal to construct a permanent speedway facility,” reports the speedway in an online account of its history.
English racer Sir Malcolm Campbell astounded onlookers by reaching a record speed of 278.6 MPH on Daytona Beach in 1935.
“On August 16, 1954, France signed a contract with City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County officials to build what would become Daytona International Speedway, the ‘World Center of Racing.”
The 2.5-mile speedway opened in 1959. Among its ground-breaking features: 31-degree banking turns that allowed race cars to maintain dramatic speeds in the turns.
The Daytona infield boasted a 29-acre lake — Lake Lloyd, named in honor of the mechanic who gave France his first job in Daytona.
NASCAR driver Michael McDowell poses with his team as he competes at the annual Hot Rods & Reels Celebrity Fishing Tournament to benefit The Darrell Gwynn Chapter of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis at Daytona International Speedway’s Lake Lloyd, Feb. 18, 2022. Lake Lloyd is named for Saxton Lloyd, a mechanic who gave Bill France Sr. his first job in Daytona. (James Gilbert/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis)
France built an even larger track in Alabama, the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway, in 1969.
“He had a vision for building these huge race tracks, because he knew they’d handle high speeds and attract huge crowds,” said Martin.
Daytona International Speedway, France’s speedway, remains NASCAR’s premier track.
The circuit kicks off the new racing season each February with the Daytona 500. It’s also been the site of the sport’s most important events.
Racing legend Dale Earnhardt won his first Daytona 500 after 20 attempts in February 1998 — “a major event” in NASCAR history by the beloved driver, said Martin.
“Dale Earnhardt’s death was a pivotal moment in (NASCAR) history.” — Ken Martin
It’s also where Earnhardt was tragically killed in February 2001, on the last lap of the Daytona 500.
“NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever, and I personally have lost a great friend,” Bill France Jr., then NASCAR’s chairman, said in the aftermath.
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Earnhardt’s death was one of the first events that “blew up the internet,” to use a more recent term. The nationwide outpouring displayed over the internet proved Earnhardt’s popularity — and that NASCAR had become far more than just a regional phenomenon.
Dale Earnhardt checks out the view from the newly completed Earnhardt Grandstand during winter testing, two weeks before the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, in this file photo from Feb. 2001. He was killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 2001. (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
The tragedy at Daytona, said Martin, ultimately made NASCAR better and safer.
NASCAR moved the driver’s seat closer to the center of the vehicle, built a “cocoon” around the drivers, mandated head restraints and built soft-barrier walls to absorb some of the impact of a crash.
“Earnhardt’s death was a pivotal moment in our history,” said Martin. “It made everyone refocus on safety.”
‘Something to do with all of this’
Bill France Sr. died on June 7, 1992, after battling Alzheimer’s disease. He was 82.
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NASCAR today is recognized as the world’s premier stock car racing circuit with a devoted fan base around the nation.
Races have expanded far beyond NASCAR’s early southeastern base. NASCAR races are held from California to New England, and from Austin to Milwaukee.
NASCAR founder and former CEO Bill France Sr., left, talks with a U.S. Secret Service agent regarding security for Vice President George H.W. Bush prior to the start of the 1983 Daytona 500 stock car race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Bush served as the race’s honorary starter. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
About 2.5 million people attend NASCAR races each year, generating about $200 million in revenue, according to industry data. Millions more watch each race on television.
NASCAR inked an $8.2 billion, 10-year deal with Fox Sports and NBC Sports in 2015.
NASCAR was briefly publicly traded, but is once again run by the France family.
“Big Bill” has enjoyed countless honors in the sports world.
NASCAR founder and president Bill France Sr. walking down the raceway at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida, on Feb. 16, 1968. (Eric Schweikardt /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
He’s a member of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Daytona Beach Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame and — of course — the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“I think Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further,” Richard Petty wrote in “Big Bill: The Life and Times of NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr.”Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further
“Bill Sr. would be proud of NASCAR today, proud of the fact that his son took it one step further than he did and proud that his grandson has taken it another step further.” (Fox Nation)
“Now, he wouldn’t have done it the same way, but he would have sat back and told you: ‘Yeah, I had something to do with all of this.’”
To read more stories in this unique “Meet the American Who…” series from Fox News Digital, click here.
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Dem governor-elect taps Crockett’s former ‘chief brand strategist’ for top DEI role
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FIRST ON FOX: Soon-to-be Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has tapped the former “chief brand strategist” for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to serve in the state’s top diversity, equity and inclusion role.
In a Tuesday statement, Spanberger, who takes office on Jan. 17, announced she is appointing Dr. Sesha Joi Moon to serve as Virginia’s chief diversity officer and director of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Spanberger said that Moon’s “experience across government, education, and the nonprofit sectors gives her firsthand insight into the ways in which we can build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous Virginia for every family.”
“I’m excited to announce that Dr. Moon is joining our administration,” said Spanberger, adding, “Virginia deserves leaders who will make sure our work to grow our Commonwealth’s economy keeps the needs of all Virginians in mind.”
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Virginia Democratic Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger celebrates as she takes the stage during her election night rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Nov. 04, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“When every Virginian has the opportunity to reach their full potential, it benefits all of us,” she said.
Moon, whose doctorates are in public administration and policy and self-identifies as a “Black queer woman,” responded to her appointment by saying she is looking “forward to joining the cabinet of Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger as her historic administration works to advance a future in which all Virginians have access to opportunity — to include residents from some of the hardest-to-reach communities throughout the Commonwealth.”
Moon most recently served as the chief impact officer for the Girl Scouts of the USA. Before that, through her private consultant practice Moon & Associates, she worked as the “chief brand strategist” for Crockett, a radical far-left Democrat who is currently running for the U.S. Senate in Texas.
Earlier this year, Moon appeared on a 40-minute podcast episode, where she defended the importance of DEI and delivered a direct message to critics, saying, “This work has not stopped. You can defund and dismantle all you want, but the work continues.”
“I’m excited. I feel like DEI is just getting started,” Moon continued. “I know that sounds so insane to some people because some people think our discipline is crumbling, and I don’t see it like that. I feel like we’re onto something here.”
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Moon also served as executive-in-residence with two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ American Pride Rises Network, a DEI advocacy network.
Before that, she was the chief diversity officer of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 117th & 118th Congresses under Speakers Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Mike Johnson, R-La.
Spanberger won a decisive electoral victory this November, defeating Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by a margin of over 10 percentage points.
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Then Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears speaks at a CPAC Latino Rally for Virginia on October 25, 2025 in Sterling, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Considered a purple state, Spanberger’s victory returns the Virginia governor’s mansion to the Democrats after being held by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger, Moon, Crockett, Abrams and the Girl Scouts of the USA for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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Southeast
NASCAR star Denny Hamlin gives health update on mom after she was injured in deadly house fire
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NASCAR star Denny Hamlin shared an update on his mother’s condition after she was moved to a burn unit following a house fire in North Carolina that left his father dead earlier this week.
Hamlin thanked those who reached out to him and shared their condolences. Dennis Hamlin died from injuries suffered in the blaze that occurred in Stanley.
Denny Hamlin looks on prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Concord, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out with condolences on my father’s passing,” he wrote on X. “My mother continues to improve, and our family truly appreciates the outpouring of support and the respect for our privacy during this time.”
Officials said Mary Lou Hamlin was transferred to a burn specialist in Winston-Salem to treat her injuries.
Officials said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
The fire broke out at a home in Stanley around 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, which drew emergency responses from Gaston and Lincoln Counties, according to Queen City News.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 12, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
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Both Dennis and Mary Lou Hamlin were out of the house as emergency personnel rushed to the scene.
“We are thankful for the multiple agency response and ask that the public be in prayer for the affected family and our first responders in fire, GEMs and police,” the Lucia-Bend Fire Department said in a statement to the outlet.
Dennis Hamlin’s death was announced later Monday.
NASCAR released a statement on Tuesday to honor the NASCAR driver’s father.
“NASCAR extends its deepest condolences to Denny Hamlin and the entire Hamlin family,” the organization said.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, exits his car after the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 2, 2025, in Avondale, Arizona. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
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“Dennis Hamlin instilled a love of racing in his son, and sacrificed greatly to develop Denny into a world-class talent in the sport. We also continue to offer our thoughts and prayers to Denny’s mother, Mary Lou, and hope for her full recovery.”
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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Repeat offender truck driver charged with bank robbery after claiming C-4 explosives, firing on officers: feds
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A North Carolina truck driver, who is a repeat offender, has been federally charged following a bank robbery and a shootout with law enforcement, authorities said.
Willie Edward McGee Jr. is charged with bank robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to a complaint.
Authorities said that McGee entered a First Citizens Bank in Zebulon, North Carolina, on Dec. 26, and demanded money from a teller while claiming to have C-4 explosives. The teller gave him $3,234, and McGee fled in a semi-truck, they said.
Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies responded to an armed bank robbery investigation that led to the arrest of Willie Edward McGee Jr. in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina)
Deputies with the Rocky Mount Police Department said that McGee’s truck was found in a Hobby Lobby parking lot following the initial robbery.
According to surveillance and officers at the scene, McGee allegedly exited the vehicle armed with a Ruger AR-style 5.56 rifle and fired at officers.
Police returned fire and struck McGee. No law enforcement officers or civilians were injured. While taking McGee into custody, officers recovered the AR rifle he allegedly used to shoot at officers and a handgun from his waistband.
No officers or members of the public were injured as law enforcement safely took the suspect into custody after a coordinated response in Rocky Mount. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina)
McGee, according to records reviewed by WRAL-News, has a lengthy criminal history. The local outlet said that the suspect has dozens of charges dating back more than 20 years.
WRAL reported that he has offenses spanning from Duplin, Wake and Durham counties.
Federal and local law enforcement recovered guns and evidence following the arrest of a suspect charged with armed bank robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina)
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the incident “domestic terror.”
“As alleged, this defendant didn’t just rob a bank — he threatened innocent civilians with explosives and then opened fire on police officers,” Blanche said. “That is not desperation, it is domestic terror. Thanks to the extraordinary courage and professionalism of our law enforcement partners, he is alive, in custody, and facing decades in federal prison.”
“Let this serve as a warning: if you bring violence into our communities or target the men and women who protect them, this Department of Justice will meet you with the full weight of the federal government and ensure you are removed from the streets for a very long time.”
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The investigation remains active. Anyone with further information about the alleged crimes is asked to please call the FBI at (704) 672-6100. Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, for comment.
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