NASCAR CHIEF IN N DWI BUST ST
‘Sped past cops’s’
NASCAR chief Brian France was busted in the Hamptons for drunkenly blowing through a stop sign right in front of cops, officials said Monday.
The 56-year-old CEO and chairman (inset) was behind the wheel of a 2017 Lexus when he sailed past the sign without stopping at Main and Bay streets in Sag Harbor around 7 p.m. Sunday, police said.
When cops pulled over France, his breath reeked of booze, his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and he fumbled over his words, according to court papers.
France allegedly stumbled through a field sobriety test and flunked a Breathalyzer by registering more than two times the legal blood-alcohol limit — but he wasn’t going down without a fight.
He tried to worm his way out of the arrest by name-dropping his powerful friends — including President Trump, TMZ reported, citing sources.
But unimpressed cops cuffed France anyway, and allegedly found five Oxycodone pills on him.
The auto-racing mogul was booked on charges of aggravated DWI and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
France spent the night in jail, then was cutt loose without bail at his Monday morning arraignment. By the afternoon, he announced he was taking a leave from the company. “I apologize to our fans, our industry and my family for the impact of my actions last night,” France said in a statement. “Effective immediately, I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from my position to focus on my personal affairs.”
Jim France, Brian’s uncle and the company’s vice chairman and executive vice president, will take over Brian’s responsibilities on an interim basis, NASCAR said.
France’s grandfather Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR in 1948, running the company until 1972, when Bill France Jr. took over. Brian France succeeded his father in 2003.
He was previously involved in a 2006 smash-up in which he slammed another Lexus into a tree in Daytona Beach, Fla. He told cops in that case that he lost control while drinking a soda, but a witness told police that France was speeding and stumbled getting out of the car.