NASCAR turns over leadership at track where France family ruled with iron fist

For the first time in 78 years, someone other than the France family will be running NASCAR. Ironically, the official announcement came at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, where NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. presided over an infamous driver boycott at the track's original race in 1969 after safety issues led to a dispute between France and most of the Cup Series field. 

Jim France, the son of Bill France Sr., is no longer the CEO of NASCAR, stepping aside for Steve O'Donnell, though he will remain the sport's majority owner and chairman. Additionally, Ben Kennedy, the great-grandson of Bill France Sr., is the sport's new Chief Operating Officer. 

NASCAR is still intertwined with the France family, but will no longer be led by a France at the very top of the chain. That's a reality that at one point might've been unfathomable. 

But O'Donnell is a member of NASCAR's new breed of leadership that includes Kennedy and former commissioner Steve Phelps, who resigned his post in January. O'Donnell, Kennedy and other NASCAR executives have been unafraid to branch out and try new ideas in recent years. 

Those ideas run the gamut from NASCAR's Next-Gen car, to schedule additions and re-additions such as the Chicago Street Race, North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, the Bristol Dirt race and Chicagoland Speedway, among others. 

After a contentious trial in the sport's antitrust lawsuit levied against it by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, it became clear that a bigger breath of fresh air was needed. That Jim France, 81, stepped aside, isn't shocking given his age, but it is an example of those currently leading NASCAR being unafraid to make a new, bold decision by handing the keys to someone not from the France family tree.

Meet NASCAR's new CEO

O'Donnell is not at all new to the sport. The 57-year-old has been in and around NASCAR for 31 years. 

O'Donnell's responsibility is a major one — managing the biggest stock car racing series in the world and the most popular motorsport in America while trying to keep a passionate fan base happy and ensuring that sponsors and investors remain interested in NASCAR racing. 

That's nothing he's new to, but he'll be doing all of it from the same office where the France's have done so for the last 78 years, and the shadows of the men who came before him loom large.