NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. has assigned "all
day-to-day operations of NASCAR in addition to his current
duties with competition" to new NASCAR Senior VP & CEO Mike
Helton, according to Godwin Kelly of the DAYTONA NEWS-
JOURNAL. Helton has been VP/Competition since January '94.
France: "Mike's taken over a lot of the day-to-day
operations, and to be honest, he's been doing a lot of that
already. We're making it more formal." Kelly writes that
"no one other than France has ever enjoyed the authority
Helton now commands with NASCAR." Helton said that "there
will be some structure changes" in order to "better manage
the sport and plan for the future" (DAYTONA NEWS-JOURNAL,
2/11). In N.Y., Tarik El Bashir writes that the move "came
as a surprise to most but had been discussed" within NASCAR
for "some time." While NASCAR Senior VP Brian France
"seemed to be a logical choice," Helton "had more
experience" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/11). France: "There is not going
to be a decision made that Mike Helton won't be involved in
or lead." France also said that the duties of his son Brian
and Winston Cup Dir Gary Nelson "will not change" (CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER, 2/11). Helton, on expanding the NASCAR Winston
Cup series beyond 34 races: "I think we can grow a little
more, as long as we do it smartly. ... Can we make it 37,
38, 39? We think there's still some room" (ARIZONA
REPUBLIC, 2/11). In DC, Liz Clarke writes that Helton's
promotion "was greeted with enthusiasm by drivers and car
owners who were heartened that France's successor was
someone with a strong racing background" (WASHINGTON POST,
2/11). Team Owner Richard Childress called Helton the No. 1
choice: "He's got the experience, the knowledge. He can sit
down with any major corporation and deal with them, and deal
with the car owners and teams" (FL TIMES-UNION, 2/11).
WHAT A FINE RUN ITS BEEN: In Atlanta, Steve Hummer
writes on the success France has had during his 27 year run
as President and states "you can keep your Sterns and your
Tagliabues. And hold the Seligs." Hummer: "NASCAR never
had a player's strike or an owner's lockout. ... Salaries
are not the dominant theme. All in all, it has been a
pretty good run" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/11).
KEEPING AN EYE ON BRUTON? France commented on Speedway
Motorsports' $35M naming rights deal for the Lowe's Motor
Speedway and said, "if I was Mike [Helton], I would look for
some more money there, see if they have a pot of money there
for the (race purse)" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/11). In
Raleigh, Caulton Tudor questions Lowe's $35M Charlotte Motor
Speedway naming rights deal: "Does anyone out there
seriously think a reasonable percentage of folks will start
referring to Charlotte Motor Speedway as Lowe's Motor
Speedway? Of course not" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 2/11).
