NASCAR President Mike Helton to speak at UVa-Wise Oct. 25

NASCAR President Mike Helton will discuss “The Business of NASCAR” during a presentation at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise on Monday, Oct. 25.

The event, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Chapel of All Faiths, is free and open to the public.

Helton became president of the multi-billion dollar industry in November, 2000, succeeding Bill France, who had served as president since 1972. Helton was the first person outside the France family to take over the day-to-day operations of NASCAR when he was promoted from his position as vice president for competition and was named senior vice president and chief operating officer in February of 1999.

Born and raised in Bristol, Helton has a varied background in motorsports from managing a track to sitting behind the wheel of a racecar. His motorsports management experience began in 1980 at what was then known as Atlanta International Raceway. He was promoted to general manager in 1985 before joining the management team at Daytona International Speedway in 1986. Eighteen months later, Helton was offered the job of general manager at Talladega Superspeedway. Within two years, he quickly advanced to vice president of the International Speedway Corporation and in 1989 was promoted to
president of the Talladega track. He held that position until January of 1994, when he relocated to Daytona Beach, Florida as the new vice president for competition.

For more information, contact the Office of College Relations at 276-328-0130.