NASCAR’s France Steps Down

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (November 28, 2000) - Bill France, who assumed the president’s role at NASCAR in January 1972, becoming only the second president of the sanctioning body, today announced that Mike Helton, who has served as senior vice president and chief operating officer since 1999, will assume the role of president for NASCAR effective immediately.

France will serve as chairman of a newly formed five-member board of directors for NASCAR that will oversee the following executive management structure:

Board of Directors: A board of directors that will consist of Bill France, Jim France, Brian France, Lesa Kennedy and Mike Helton has been formed and will be responsible for developing policy and vision for the sport.

President: Mike Helton, who joined the sanctioning body in 1994 as vice president of competition before assuming the COO position, will assume the title of president. He will be charged with executing the policies and visions developed by the board and will have day-to-day responsibilities for all aspects of the sanctioning body.

Executive Vice Presidents: Jim France will continue to serve as executive vice president and secretary for the sanctioning body with Brian France, who has served as senior vice president, also assuming the title of executive vice president.

Senior Vice President: George Pyne, who has been directing the sanctioning body’s marketing and licensing efforts while working out of NASCAR’s Charlotte office will be relocating to Daytona Beach to assume his new duties as senior vice president. Pyne will have day-to-day operational responsibilities for each of NASCAR’s departments and he will report to and execute Helton’s direction.

"Mike Helton is a well-respected member of the NASCAR community, who has a great understanding of the sport and its values," said Bill France. "Mike is well-suited to carry on the tradition of strong leadership at NASCAR, not only within our offices but for the entire industry.

"George has brought us a strong sense of organizational structure within the sanctioning body," said France. "Internally, George has worked to develop strategic business plans for each department with a strong set of systems put in place to make things happen more efficiently and he has gone to great lengths to understand the inner workings of the entire sport.

"Mike and George complement each other and will make a strong day-to-day management team for NASCAR executing and directing policy’s established by the board."

Enhancing its depth, NASCAR also has a team of vice presidents whose roles are very specific and specialized. They include, Ed Bennett, recently promoted to vice president of corporate administration and who is based out of NASCAR&8217s Daytona Beach headquarters; Steve Boguski, recently named vice president of strategic marketing with responsibility of directing the Charlotte office; Paul Brooks, vice president of broadcasting who has relocated to Southern California to direct NASCAR&8217s newly opened Los Angeles office; Tom Deery, who is based in Daytona Beach and as vice president is responsible for NASCAR&8217s weekly and touring racing series; and Brett Yormark, who directs NASCAR’s New York office and recently assumed the title of vice president of corporate marketing.

"We have worked vigorously to build a foundation and create depth within our senior management team while proving the France family commitment to continue to direct the sport like it has since my father founded NASCAR in 1948," said France. "Our mission remains the same, we want to continue to grow the sport while continuing to find opportunities that benefit our drivers, teams and tracks."

The sanctioning body has enjoyed tremendous growth in the past five years with the number of employees currently numbering nearly 400 while offering 13 series of racing, from the grassroots NASCAR Weekly Racing Series to the ever-popular NASCAR Winston Cup Series. In addition, NASCAR has broadened its reach beyond its Daytona Beach headquarters and opened offices in Charlotte, N.C., to focus on licensing efforts and work closer with the sport&8217s drivers, teams and tracks; New York City with the purpose of enhancing the sport&8217s marketing efforts; and most recently Los Angeles, which will be focused on NASCAR’s broadcasting, new media and technology efforts.

For more on Bill France, Jr. and NASCAR’s racing history at Daytona Beach check out From the Beach to the Big Time on www.stockcarracing.com