Why Did Jim France Back down from Funding a NASCAR Cup Car?

Jim France abruptly cancelled the idea to fund a driver with a team in the NASCAR Cup Series at the upcoming race at the Sonoma Speedway.

Why Did Jim France Back down from Funding a NASCAR Cup Car?

Jim France (via Getty)

NASCAR’s CEO and Chairman, Jim France, had the bold idea of funding a Cup Series entry at the upcoming race at Sonoma Raceway. France reportedly opted to fund a Spire Motorsports car for the renowned IMSA driver Jack Aitken. While many people believed the idea to be plausible, it faced massive criticism and backlash. Due to this, France abruptly canceled the idea and called it quits before it had any bigger implications.

Jim France had taken on the challenge of being NASCAR’s CEO and Chairman in the 2018 season and hasn’t backed down ever since. While the sport has undergone some questionable phases, the general consensus on France remains positive among the people. The most recent 23XI and FRM antitrust lawsuit against the sport has continued to gain traction in recent months as people’s trust in the CEO remains unstable.

However, the idea of funding a team at the Sonoma Raceway has a different set of challenges before it could have been carried out. A massive sea of people questioned the conflict of interest that would take place if Jim France were to fund a team. The people of the sport feared that France’s direct involvement with a team would cause a precedent for other leaders to meddle in the competition.

The complaints feared a repeat of IndyCar controversies of Roger Penske‘s dual role as the series operator and team operator, which led to allegations of a cheating scandal in the Indy 500. The NASCAR community wanted no part in those scandals, as they received Jim France’s idea with great criticism. The people now rest at ease as France backs out from the controversial idea of funding Spire Motorsports and runs the race as intended.

Spire Motorsports opens up about the abrupt cancellation of Jim France’s funding idea

Spire Motorsports’ co-owner Jeff Dickerson has put forth the ground reality on the matter and revealed how the issue has been made bigger than anticipated. Dickerson did not beat around the bush and clarified that Jim France’s team wasn’t the one making the shots on the team’s decision on Jack Aitken if they were to fund him.

Jeff Dickerson (via Epartrade Photo)
Jeff Dickerson (via Epartrade Photo)

Rather, the whole matter would be facilitated and controlled by Spire personnel, as France would only be the treasurer of the deal. Moreover, the co-owner pinpointed that the CEO had to pay the same amount of money to field an extra car with no bias towards him. Dickerson reckoned that he didn’t think of the matter to be that big of a deal, as the idea to fund a team isn’t as deep as people made it out to be.

I didn’t really even think it was that big of a deal, I didn’t even think it was that deep.

Jeff Dickerson told The Athletic.

Many people also alleged that Jim France aimed to prove that fielding a car with the team did not cost as much as claimed in the 23XI-FRM lawsuit. Now, the decision is final for France to not interfere in the team and driver’s operations at any of the upcoming races. Keeping in mind the intensity of the backlash, the sport is likely never to embark on such a controversial idea regarding funding a team or a driver.

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