NASCAR Chairman Jim France Steps Down as CEO

Jim France is stepping down from his NASCAR CEO role but will keep his role as chairman as the majority owner of the racing business. Effective immediately, NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell has been promoted to CEO, while executive vice president Ben Kennedy — France’s great nephew — has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. “I am incredibly proud of the strength and stability we’ve achieved across the sport, which gives me tremendous confidence in our plan to transition leadership to Steve as NASCAR’s next CEO and Ben as COO,” France said in a news release. “Together, they represent the future of the sport, and along with our world-class executive team and race team partners in the garage, they will guide NASCAR into its exciting next era.” France, 81, has been chairman and CEO since 2018 after his nephew, Brian France, resigned from the role. France is the brother of Bill France Jr., who guided the sport — founded by their father in 1948 — from 1979-2000. The moves this weekend don’t appear to be sparked by any one factor other than the natural progression and elevation of Kennedy. France and his niece, Lesa France Kennedy, have for decades overseen and through their trusts have co-owned NASCAR, which has had its challenges since its peak in the late 2000s. The latest challenge was an antitrust lawsuit brought by two race teams, including 23XI Racing, co-owned by basketball icon Michael Jordan. The two sides settled in December after eight days of trial, a trial that did not portray NASCAR and its executives in the best light. France was there throughout the trial and stood outside the courthouse with Jordan in announcing the settlement. France, who shunned the spotlight and politely declined almost all interview requests to talk about the sport, spent time on the witness stand at trial talking about his love of racing. He has owned race teams and dabbled as a driver himself. “When I talk about racers, I think that it’s in your blood and … it’s something that you really have a passion for,” France testified. NASCAR operates stock-car racing series and it owns about half the tracks on the Cup circuit. It also owns IMSA, the primary road-racing series in the United States and a series where France still owns a race team. Lesa France Kennedy’s son, Ben, has long been considered to be the next in line to take over the sport. He most recently was the Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovation Officer. Primarily, Kennedy handles the schedule and oversees competition projects. His new role is the next step in the ladder as far as his executive status and responsibilities. Kennedy will take a more active role in competition oversight, and executive vice president John Probst, who heads all of the competition departments, will report to Kennedy instead of O’Donnell. Lesa France Kennedy has primarily worked on the track side of the family’s NASCAR operation, for a long time, serving as chairman of International Speedway Corp. — a publicly traded company that operated race tracks. The France family, through NASCAR’s purchase of ISC stock, took the company private in 2019. Jim France had a tight bond with many of NASCAR’s long-time team owners. But his unwillingness to make their charters (NASCAR’s version of a franchise) permanent and not tied to the length of NASCAR’s television deal, frustrated many team leaders. The settlement in the lawsuit put a structure in place to make the charters more evergreen, which should increase their worth.