DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Days after the 2004 Hendrick Motorsports flight that killed all 12 people on board, Bill France Jr. and Mike Helton showed up at Rick Hendrick’s front door in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Frans, who was terminally ill at the time, was chairman of the NASCAR racing series, which his strong-armed father had founded in 1948. Helton was the first non-family member to serve as chairman of the series at the time and held an important position in the France family’s inner circle.
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The pair represent the very top of NASCAR, with Hendrick as their largest team owner.
France has a problem:
“Are you okay?” France asked the devastated Hendrik, who lost his namesake son, brother and twin nieces in the crash.
“I said, ‘I’m going to be fine,'” Hendrick recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. “He said, ‘Whatever you need, whatever we can do, I’m just here to tell you, we’re here to serve you.’ And then he turned around and went home.”
Different images of NASCAR
Hendrick chose to tell that story when asked whether there was an image contrary to the image of the France family during a federal antitrust lawsuit filed last December against NASCAR and current chairman Jim France, one of which is owned by Michael Jordan.
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The lawsuit took a toll on the family, which settled the case after eight days of testimony that painted them as money-hoarding dictators who got rich while the team was bleeding cash.
“I feel bad for all of them,” said Brian France Sr., grandson of founder Bill France Sr., who served as chairman for 15 years before stepping down in 2018. “A lot of what happens is the nature of litigation; litigation is never a good thing. But for over 75 years, someone has to balance what’s good for everybody, all the stakeholders, and certainly the fans. Our record on that, while it’s not perfect, we’ve actually done a pretty good job.”
The negative image presented to the French family at the trial contrasts with the personal experiences of many in the motorsport industry, including Michael Shank, who began racing in the French-owned IMSA sports car series by mortgaging his home to launch a plan to win races.
Shank told The Associated Press that Jim France personally backed his loan to help Meyer Shank Racing get off the ground.
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“These are good people who care about this industry and built it with their support, and it pisses me off to see how the industry is twisted,” said Shank, who now competes in multiple series and won the 2021 Indianapolis 500.
Hendrick believes the entire dispute was avoidable and said he believes the case would never have made it to court under the leadership of Bill France Jr. or Brian France. He was prepared to testify on behalf of NASCAR before the settlement, though he told The Associated Press that he was prepared to point out how often NASCAR’s winning teams were punished by the series.
“I made the decision when I started to be a private business and stay private because I didn’t want to have pressure from a board of directors or shareholders to tell me how to run my business,” Hendrick said. “I say that because of the sacrifice the Francis couple made. They built it and they made a lot of riders very wealthy.
“They built an amazing business. They gave a lot of people the opportunity to become race car drivers and make a living doing it. They were good people, and what was portrayed – the greed – I just feel like they got ripped off.”
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Lawsuit quickly turns ugly
Soft-spoken Jim France, 81, 11 years younger than his brother, is the only surviving child of NASCAR’s founder.
The lawsuit is based primarily on the valuable franchises that each team needs to remain financially viable in NASCAR because they provide guaranteed racing opportunities, thereby providing a steady source of revenue. The team wanted to make it permanent rather than cancel it for the series, but France stood firm and talks went nowhere for two years.
He has a 112-page “take it or leave it” offer at the end of 2024 to 15 franchise-holding organizations with a tight signing deadline. He went to bed that night ready to move forward with the person he signed when he woke up, according to testimony.
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Jordan refused and sued on behalf of the 23XI Racing team he co-owns. He was joined by fast-food franchisee Bob Jenkins, who was willing to gamble the future of Front Row Motorsports for better terms. Mediation failed and the parties ended up in court – and the details were unsatisfactory.
Testimony showed that the French family trust received more than $400 million from 2021 to 2024 while the team begged for financial aid. Evidence also shows that NASCAR’s first commissioner, Steve Phelps, sent text messages during negotiations calling Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress a “stupid redneck.”
There’s evidence that Phelps did want more from the team, but ultimately had to live up to Jim France’s wishes. Phelps left the company at the beginning of the year.
The France family relented on the ninth day of the trial and agreed to a settlement that would keep the franchise in effect for the long term – terms that would be renegotiated with each new media rights deal. Evergreen status alone has doubled the value of charters overnight, from $45 million (the price of the last charter sold in 2025) to nearly $100 million. There are 36 charter flights for each competition, accounting for 40 participation places.
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Brian France grieved for his family on the sidelines during the trial.
Jim France is his uncle, who was forced out of his favorite behind-the-scenes role at the company to succeed his nephew as chairman after Brian’s 2018 DUI arrest. Lesa France Kennedy is Brian’s sister. She graduated from Duke University with a degree in economics and is executive vice president of NASCAR, but she prefers running the family track and focusing on the fan experience.
Her son Ben Kennedy is the heir apparent. He is 34 years old and working his way to the top. According to the Family Business Advisory Group, less than 5 percent of family businesses survive to the fourth generation, but NASCAR emerged from the lawsuit unscathed, an outlier that gave Ben Kennedy a chance.
Ben Kennedy, who works primarily in operations and competition, was the only family member to conduct a routine interview. Jim and Lesa France Kennedy generally do not give interviews to the media.
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“One of the challenges you have with your family now is they don’t promote themselves. Jim certainly doesn’t, and Lysa doesn’t, as opposed to me, who promotes more of a broader range of things and different things,” Brian France said. “They didn’t really like it and didn’t feel the need to do it. I don’t blame them for having to defend themselves with some of the things that were circulated in the lawsuit that were completely inaccurate or definitely taken out of context.”
consequences of litigation
The case was officially dismissed last week when 23XI and Front Row signed a new charter agreement as the series prepares for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500. The sport, which fell apart during franchise negotiations and litigation, now appears to be united again and ready to focus on racing.
Gary Nelson, who won a Cup Series championship as Bobby Allison’s crew chief, admits he had negative thoughts about NASCAR when he was working in the garage. He later moved into competitive corporate leadership positions and today serves as General Manager of Action Express.
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He still rides motorcycles with Jim France to this day, and even so, the Action Express was the first car this season to be penalized for failing inspection after winning pole position at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. The car started last in the class and finished second. If inspectors hired by NASCAR give the car a pass, it could win North America’s most prestigious sports car race.
“NASCAR has always had an us-versus-them feel, but one of the main things that my family made clear to me when I went to work for them was, ‘You have to treat everyone equally and fairly,'” Nelson said. “It’s not a charity. You have to work hard to do it and we’ve seen a lot of people create huge fortunes, French families have created many, many millionaires.
“The Jim France I knew helped a lot of people without any desire for recognition. The way it is portrayed in the lawsuit is different from the man I knew.”
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AP Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
