“It’s Not Necessary”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Puzzled by NASCAR Boss Jim France’s Desire to Field a Cup Entry

According to a recent report in The Athletic, Jim France — NASCAR’s chairman and CEO since 2018 — had a plan to personally bankroll a Spire Motorsports entry for Sonoma Raceway, with Jack Aitken taking the wheel. However, backlash from within the garage area forced the plan to be shelved.

The proposed Sonoma entry, which would have seen IMSA regular Aitken drive a Spire machine backed by France and linked to Hendrick Motorsports, struck a raw nerve and drew scrutiny across the paddock.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., no stranger to such situations given his ownership of the CARS Tour and a team in the series, weighed in on it.

“Had Jim France and his family owned cars for all of these decades of NASCAR, your grandfather that in, and if that ever ended, we would just be done with it,” Junior remarked on the latest episode of his podcast.

“At this point, it just doesn’t seem like it’s very productive to do it now. And Jim doesn’t need to do it. It’s not like a viable business proposition or opportunity that I think that’s necessary for him as a businessman to do it,” he said. “It’s not necessary because dude owns a sport.”

Offering an alternative path, Dale Jr. suggested France could have concealed his involvement.

That way, Aitken could have still taken the track at Sonoma in a Spire car, with France’s support behind the curtain. This would not have raised eyebrows or invited controversy tied to his personal or financial affiliations with Aitken and his program backers.

.@DaleJr weighs in on the Jim France-funded Spire Motorsports car situation. pic.twitter.com/hEzvU4A32p

— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 3, 2025

While Earnhardt Jr. admitted he didn’t know how the details surfaced, he believed the situation could’ve been handled with more tact, executed cleanly, and without stirring discontent. That said, he acknowledged France’s transparency, noting that the NASCAR CEO did not want to fool anybody and just wanted his car to race.

Denny Hamlin, meanwhile, didn’t mince words while giving his take about this on his Actions Detrimental podcast: “I fought very, very hard and opposed the fact that the France family could own charters. I think that’s just wildly, [a] conflict of interest,” he said.

The France family last fielded a car under its own name in 1972. So, the move raised alarm bells, suggesting the possible opening of a troubling chapter — one that many in the industry found difficult to justify.

Besides that, amid an ongoing antitrust lawsuit brought by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, NASCAR’s attempt to introduce a France-funded entry into the field would’ve been a poorly timed and poorly received move.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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