Dale Earnhardt Jr. Breaks Down Jim France’s Failed Attempt to Sponsor a Spire Motorsports Cup Car

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives hi verdict on Jim France’s attempt to sponsor a NASCAR Cup car on his new episode of his podcast.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Breaks Down Jim France’s Failed Attempt to Sponsor a Spire Motorsports Cup Car

Jim France and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Via dailydownforce.com)

Recently it was revealed that the current NASCAR CEO Jim France attempted to sponsor fielding a NSCAR Cup Series car with Spire Motorsports. The co-owner of the sport was looking to give a Cup seat to his IMSA driver Jack Aitken. They would have made the 29-year-old driver the first driver to race for France in both series, which is owned by NASCAR.

The plan was to race at Sonoma, the road course even that would match the drivers’ sports car racing experience. But Jim France decided to call of the attempts and talking about it in the recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. highlighted that Indy 500 factor behind the decision to back down.

This idea of Jim France getting Spire to do this deal so he could run this driver, all of this has been probably worked on for a month, two months, maybe more. They were probably planning this, maybe they saw what went down at [IndyCar] and had second thoughts.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. Via Dale Jr. Download.

At the 2025 Indy 500, two Team Penske Racing cars were found having illegal changes made and the team received massive penalty. The sports integrity came into question, as the team owner Roger Penske owns both the championship as well as the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The teams past success even came into question.

This showed the France family how tough it is going to be to navigate the double ownership factor and how it is going to affect the sport as a whole. According to Dale Jr. they were forced to have second thoughts and considering the situation the sport is in, decided to back down from the move though they had the support from some big names of the sport.

I’m certain they saw what went down in Indy and thought, ‘Let’s rethink this. Should we do this? Should we not?’ I agree. It’s problematic at Indy at the level. It’s a tough thing to navigate where Penske is competing, but also the owner of the Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains why Roger Penske was able to race full-time in IndyCar unlike Jim France

Then in the same discussion the JR Motorsports co-owner, who is in the same situation with his CARS Tour Series, explain how Roger Penske can make the IndyCar moves smoother. Being someone that has the legacy and respect of the industry has the respect alongside trust of the garage. But France doesn’t have that that luxury of trust in the garage.

Roger Penske
Roger Penske (image via Getty Images)

The thing about Roger Penske is he has so much respect amongst the industry. This is not a great time in the industry for Jim with the lawsuit. Is this an issue if everybody, the industry leaders and the charter owners all thought everything was going perfectly?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

The lack of trust is primary due to the new charter deals; the controversies he has been part of over the years and the recent lawsuit. This puts him in a tough spot even for an open car entry while Penske has earned the trust with his openness regarding the series.

Would they mind then if Jim ran an open car with this guy through Spire? Probably not. That’s why Roger Penske has been able to get to this point at least without any issue.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

The comments from the Hall of Famer are on point and it’s not the right time for France family to publicly enter the sport. Since they have plans to have charters, they should do that by having the team leaders that has no relationship to the series ownership.

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