France worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week as he drove a compactor, bulldozer and grader in the 13 months it took to build the track. He once even tried to use a mule to pull trees out of the swamps, because the motorized equipment kept getting stuck.

When he took over NASCAR, he inherited a sport rich in Southern traditions but mostly unknown everywhere else.

“His dad started it, got it up and running, and Junior took it and put the people together to take it from a southern sport to a national sport,” said Richard Petty, a seven-time NASCAR champion. “He was there where it was developed with the TV, when it was developed with the new cars, where it was developed from half-mile dirt tracks to superspeedways.

“You just look at the popularity and look at the people and look at the money involved — he must have done a heck of a job at it.”

Before France’s tenure began, the few races that made it onto TV were shown in snippets on shows such as ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” Within six years, France had a deal with CBS Sports to televise the 1979 Daytona 500 from flag to flag.

The race received huge ratings, with Richard Petty winning after Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough crashed on the final lap. Allison and his brother, Bobby, then fought with Yarborough on live TV.

It led to more coverage, and in 1999, NASCAR finally packaged the entire circuit together in a $2.4 billion contract that awarded races to Fox, NBC and TNT that began in 2001.

“Bill France Jr. truly defined the often misused term ’legend,”’ Fox Sports chairman David Hill said.

Ailing, France, who had a mild heart attack in 1997, relinquished his role as NASCAR president to Mike Helton and handed off chairman duties to son Brian in 2003.

“The good thing is he built a family-oriented sport that has a lot of depth and a lot of strength to it,” Helton said. “It will go on. It will go on non-stop, and that’s the greatest tribute to Bill France.”

It wasn’t always smooth between father and son, evidenced by an awkward moment during a 2003 news conference to announce NASCAR’s shift into nontraditional markets. Brian represented NASCAR that day, with his father squirming in the audience.

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Frustrated with Brian’s presentation, France stood up and without a microphone awkwardly interrupted to emphasize a point he didn’t think Brian was making clear enough.

As the crowd chuckled at “Bill just being Bill,” Brian twisted uncomfortably on the stage.

“I told him I was disappointed that he thought he needed to make his point at that time,” Brian France later said.

Eight months later, though, France lauded his son as he handed him the reins.

“I’ve got total confidence in what Brian can do,” France Jr. said. “He’s loaded with street smarts.”

France’s daughter, Lesa France Kennedy, runs International Speedway Corp., the owner and operator of most of the major U.S. race tracks. His younger brother, Jim, is the executive vice president of NASCAR and vice chairman of ISC.

France also is survived by his wife, Betty Jane, and three grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.