Bill France Sr.

Big Bill skipped school as a teenager to make laps in the family Model T Ford at the high-banked 1.5-mile (2.4 km) board track near Laurel, Maryland.

He set up a car repair shop in Daytona at 316 Main Street Station, still in existence today as an event and entertainment venue.

[3] On March 8, 1936, the first stock car race was held on the Daytona Beach Road Course, promoted by local racer Sig Haugdahl.

[3] The race was 78 laps long (250 mi or 400 km) for street-legal family sedans sanctioned by the American Automobile Association (AAA) for cars built in 1935 and 1936.

[3] Haugdahl talked with France, and together they got the Daytona Beach Elks Club to host another event on Labor Day weekend in September 1937.

France beat Lloyd Moody and Pig Ridings to win the Labor Day weekend event.

When the war ended, Jim moved his family back to New Jersey to start an auto parts business but remained close friends with Bill for the rest of his life.

On December 14, 1947, France began talks with drivers, mechanics, and car owners at the Ebony Bar at the Streamline Hotel at Daytona Beach, Florida, which ended with the formation of NASCAR on February 21, 1948.

[5] By 1953, France knew it was time for a permanent track to hold the large crowds that were gathering for races at Daytona and elsewhere.

France began building a new 2.5 miles (4.0 km) superspeedway in 1956 to host what would become the new premier event of the series – the Daytona 500.

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company became the title sponsor in 1971, a move that changed the name of the series from "Grand National" to "Winston Cup".

Reynolds convinced France to drop all dirt tracks and races under 100 miles (160 km) from the NASCAR schedule in 1972, a move that defined the "modern era" of the sport.

[8] France died June 7, 1992, at his home in Ormond Beach, Florida, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease, aged 82.