Bill France Jr., who transformed NASCAR from a small Southern sport into a billion-dollar conglomerate during his 31 years as chairman, died Monday at his Daytona Beach, Fla., home, his family said. He was 74.

France, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, had been in poor health for much of the last decade.

A shrewd businessman, France was fiercely protective of his family-owned company. France became chairman in 1972 when he replaced his father, NASCAR founder William Henry Getty France, who retired 25 years after forming the National Association for Stock Car Racing.

"When they announced he was going to take over NASCAR, I kind of started looking for another job, because I didn't think he could pull it off. I was wrong," said Junior Johnson, one of NASCAR's first stars. "He did a better job than his father did, and he succeeded in every aspect of it."

Over the span of three remarkable decades, France oversaw the expansion of the sport, parlaying the loyal fan base of the Deep South into sold-out tracks in New England, California, Texas and the Midwest.

It all translated into more money from sponsors, bigger paydays for drivers and robust TV audiences.

Before France's tenure began, the few races that did make it onto TV were only shown in snippets on shows such as ABC's "Wide World of Sports." But within six years, France had a deal with CBS Sports to televise the 1979 Daytona 500 from flag to flag.

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.

France, who had a mild heart attack in 1997, relinquished his role as NASCAR president to Mike Helton in 2003.

He handed off chairman duties to son Brian in 2003.