France quietly leading change

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Jim France is running NASCAR the same way he lives his life— quietly, in the background, away from the spotlight he never craved.

The youngest son of NASCAR’s founder carved his own path in the family business and left the leadership roles to his father, Bill France Sr., and then to his older brother. Jim France ran sports cars, served on NASCAR’s boards and was content when nephew Brian France replaced Bill France Jr. as chairman of NASCAR in 2003.

Brian France made radical changes to the playoff system, approved a new car and stage racing, pulled NASCAR out of some of its traditional markets for big city exposure and, along the way, managed to alienate a chunk of the series’ aging fan base. He showed little interest in calls for a condensed season, shorter events, weekday races and a greater variety of tracks even as NASCAR spent much of the last decade unable to stop a slide in attendance and television ratings or an exodus of top sponsors.

Then Brian France was arrested last August in New York, hundreds of miles from Chase Elliott’s first Cup Series victory that same day, on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance. He immediately took a leave of absence and uncle Jim France stepped in as interim chairman and CEO.

Jim France has been at almost every NASCAR race since, available for drivers and teams and walking pit road, sometimes summoning officials to look things over. The “interim” label has been dropped from his title and it is clear Jim France is at long last running the show.

“I think Jim is doing a good job, just in being around,” said 2015 champion Kyle Busch. “He’s always got a pen and a notebook, he’s in the trenches, he’s asking questions and he’s listening.”

Still, he has offered no public insight as to how he plans to end NASCAR’s slump and has given no interviews during his six months at the helm.

NASCAR at last also seems open to altering its 38-race schedule that stretches nearly 11 months, adding more short tracks and road courses for fans who have begged for a fix to the stale climate.

It took Jim France taking over and then promoting Steve Phelps to president of NASCAR to get most of the initiatives rolling.