The Rise and Fall of NASCAR Innovator Brian France

• In 2000, Brian France was named a NASCAR executive vice president.

• Three years later, he moved into the big office as NASCAR chairman, a position he would hold until 2018.

• France’s time running NASCAR ended abruptly in the summer of 2018 when he was stopped by police officers in Sag Harbor, N.Y. for running a stop sign.

As the third generation in the stock car racing business, Brian France was groomed to ultimately be the person in charge.

Son of NASCAR president Bill France Jr. and grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., Brian knew from his teenage years that there would be a place of significance for him in the organization his family had turned into one of the country’s major professional sports. He was given relatively insignificant assignments early on, then sent out West to learn the ropes of running short tracks.

Even as his father expanded the business his grandfather had birthed, Brian was learning how to deal with drivers, team owners, sponsors and fans and the tiny everyday things that can gum up the works in speedway operation.

In 2000, he was named a NASCAR executive vice president, and three years later he moved into the big office as NASCAR chairman, a position he would hold until 2018.

The late Jim Hunter, a long-time France family lieutenant and one of the NASCAR executives assigned to be guides for Brian, said Bill France Jr. knew what his son could accomplish.

“If he hadn’t thought Brian could do it, you can rest assured that he never would have named Brian—son or not,” Hunter once said. “He knew Brian would be different, but he knew he could do the job.”

Brian France’s time atop the NASCAR pyramid was a period of massive change, and it was a time that ended under dark clouds.

Only months into the job, France made the move that has had the biggest impact. He radically changed the way NASCAR names its Cup Series champion, moving away from the season-long point accumulation system to a “Chase for the Cup” format that added importance to the final 10 races of the season—“the playoffs”—and cut the field of drivers eligible for the title over those 10 races.

Parts of that system remain in place today, although France’s original vision has been modified significantly. His aim at the time was to create more “game seven moments,” in his description, to fuel late-season fan interest and television ratings.

France also negotiated a multi-billion-dollar television deal, put his power behind a push for greater diversity in the sport and tweaked rules in attempts to make competition better and more evenly balanced. The dramatic changes, including events broken into segments by “stage racing,” often were greeted with derision by fans who leaned toward the traditional.

France’s time running NASCAR ended abruptly in the summer of 2018 when he was stopped by police officers in Sag Harbor, N.Y. for running a stop sign. He was charged with DWI and ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge. He took what was described as “an indefinite leave of absence” from his NASCAR duties.

After entering the plea, the 56-year-old France released a statement: “While I made a mistake, this event has also given me the opportunity to reflect on my poor judgment that day, my family and my great responsibilities to our community. I have learned valuable lessons and will be a better person because of this process.”

Jim France, Brian’s uncle, became NASCAR’s interim leader after Brian’s arrest and became the organization’s full-time chairman in February 2019.

Brian France later started a private investment firm and generally has been away from the sport his family developed into a roaring success.