NASCAR’s France reiterates his resistance to permanent charters

Jim France was a bit more talkative on Wednesday when finishing his testimony in the antitrust lawsuit the 23XI and Front Row Motorsports teams filed against France and the sport he owns and operates under cross-examination from NASCAR’s lead counsel, Christopher Yates.

France (pictured above), who had not yet become the chairman and CEO of NASCAR when the original charter system was implemented in 2016, reiterated that he did not want permanent charters for race teams in the 2025 agreement. It was something France said he wasn’t comfortable agreeing to because he didn’t know what the future of the sport would look like. It was the same type of testimony that previous NASCAR executives testified to about why permanent charters, a key issue for race teams during the negotiations, were not granted.

“I don’t know how you can set anything in the changing world we’re in,” France said.

• NASCAR CEO France takes the stand as plaintiffs’ final witness in antitrust case

There were multiple other times where France again reiterated that not knowing what the sport would look like in the future made him want to stay away from permanent charters. Under redirect from lead counsel for the race teams, Jeffrey Kessler, France was asked why the race teams couldn’t have stability with permanent charters while having the economics adjusted in the future.

France said he never saw such a proposal from any race team. However, he did say that charters involve more than economics.

Kessler also asked France about a “defense fund” he had been building for NASCAR “in case we got into (a) jam.” France countered that it was not for this lawsuit but was created long before the Race Team Alliance ever brought issues to NASCAR, and that it was there for any claims that might arise.