Key Highlights
- Jim France said he was raised with two core principles passed down from his parents. His mother, credited with helping her husband build NASCAR from nothing, told her two sons to always pay their bills.
- Bill France Sr.
- advised them to “do what you say you're going to do.”It was those two principles that led to France's refusal to budge on permanent charters in the 2025 revenue-sharing agreement.“I've just seen so much change over the years and things are changing at a fast pace and I don't know how to put something in place - I don't know how we could come to an agreement that covers forever,” he testified. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe later tied it directly to his parents' advice.“I don't have a sightline for the future and I don't feel comfortable making a promise I can't keep forever,” he testified. That thinking aligns with Tuesday testimony from NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, who gave NASCAR's version of the chaotic Sept.
- 6, 2024, final agreements presented to teams late that Friday afternoon with an end-of-day deadline to sign the 112-page document or forfeit their charters. Phelps testified the delay in sending the final drafts was because France had promised Roger Penske, owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and teams in multiple racing series including NASCAR, that France would personally speak to Penske before the agreements were delivered.
- France tried to call Penske several times that day and Phelps testified that Penske didn't answer. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt wasn't until after the two had finally spoken that the charters were sent to teams, at close to 5 p. m., with a midnight deadline.“Jim is a man of his word,” Phelps testified.23XI Racing, which is owned by basketball Hall of Famer Jordan, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Jordan’s financial adviser, Curtis Polk, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, were the only two teams out of 15 organizations that refused to sign.