Track News

Highlighting the Class of 2010:

Dale Earnhardt

Earnhardt co-holds the record for most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

championships (seven) with Richard Petty. In only his second full

season, 1980, Earnhardt nabbed his first championship. He won

consecutive titles on three separate occasions (1986-87, ’90-91 and

’93-94). Earnhardt’s 76 victories rank seventh all-time.

He is the all-time leader in race victories at Daytona International

Speedway with 34, though the most prominent of them was a while in the

making.

In 1998, Earnhardt won his most coveted race – the Daytona 500. The

scene was a memorable one, forever etched in the minds of race fans. As

Earnhardt’s black No. 3 rolled down pit road, a Daytona 500 winner at

last, every crew member from every team lined up to congratulate one of

the greatest drivers in NASCAR history.

Bill France Sr.

Called “Big Bill,” only partly because of his 6-foot-5 stature, France

spearheaded NASCAR from its beginning and directed it to its present

status as the world’s largest stock-car racing organization. In 1936,

he helped lay out the first beach/road course in Daytona Beach; in the

first race on the course he finished fifth. Starting in 1938, he helped

promote races on the sands of Daytona Beach. In 1947, France became the

driving force behind the establishment of the National Association for

Stock Car Auto Racing. NASCAR, it was called, resulting from a famous

meeting at the Streamline Hotel on State Road A1A in Daytona Beach – a

structure that stands to this day, as a racing landmark. “Big Bill”

France passed away in June 1992. He left behind a lasting legacy.

Bill France Jr.

William Clifton France is remembered – and revered – as the man who

followed his visionary father at NASCAR’s helm, in the process becoming

a visionary himself, as he guided NASCAR to unprecedented levels of

popularity.

France became NASCAR’s president in January 1972, replacing his father

and becoming only the second president of the world’s largest auto

racing sanctioning body. His emergence coincided with the sport’s

emergence, and its eventual ascent to become America’s No. 1 form of

motorsports and the nation’s second-most popular sport overall.

France, often referred to as “Bill Jr.,” remained president until

November 2000. At that time, France announced the formation of a NASCAR

Board of Directors on which he served as chairman and CEO until October

2003 when he was replaced by his son, Brian Z. France. After that, he

continued to serve the sport for the remainder of his life as NASCAR

Vice Chairman.

Junior Johnson

Robert Glenn “Junior” Johnson is unique in NASCAR history, with tremendous success both as a driver and a car owner.

Johnson won the second annual Daytona 500 in 1960 and in the process,

became credited with the discovery of “drafting” on the massive

superspeedways. He won 50 races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series then

surprised many people by retiring from driving to become an owner. As

an owner, Johnson never missed a beat; through the years, his drivers

won 132 races. There also were six series championships produced with

Cale Yarborough (1976-78) and Darrell Waltrip (1981-82, ’85).

Named one of NASCAR’s “50 Greatest Drivers” in 1998, Johnson resides in

Wilkesboro, N.C., and remains one of the sport’s most enduring – and

endearing – personalities, at the age of 78.

Richard Petty

Known as “the King”, Richard Petty’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series records

are staggering: Most wins (200), most poles (123), tied for most

championships (seven), most wins in a season (27), most Daytona 500

wins (seven), most consecutive wins (10) and most starts (1,185).

Petty’s success continued even after his retirement from driving in

1992. He would still hold the top spot in the family business – Petty

Enterprises, and now, Richard Petty Motorsports. In all, Petty

Enterprises totaled 268 victories before merging with Gillett Evernham