• Spire claims France’s team would not have been directly involved in running entry
  • France reportedly points to Roger Penske owning IndyCar and a team as an example

Nascar owner Jim France has backed out of a deal to fund his own Cup Series entry after backlash from the teams, according to The Athletic.

France was reportedly looking to finance an entry with Spire Motorsports for the race at Sonoma Raceway in July but the deal fell apart shortly after The Athletic began investigating.

The concept was confirmed by Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson, but he claimed the car would not have been fielded by France’s team directly. Rather, it would be staffed by Spire personnel.

Dickerson emphasised that France would have had to pay the same amount as anyone else looking to run an extra car and that he didn’t receive preferential treatment.

“I didn’t really even think it was that big of a deal,” Dickerson told The Athletic. “I didn’t even think it was that deep.”

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France has been reportedly exploring the option of entering a car for some time, with similar rumours emerging in June 2024 during the charter negotiations.

But teams were uncomfortable with the prospect of a major conflict of interest; for them, the owner of the series also having competitive interests in said series did not sit right, even if France points to Roger Penske in IndyCar as a comparison point.

Of course, Penske owns both the series and his eponymous team and France has expressed interest in a similar structure, according to various reports.

While Nascar ownership has not been involved in the racing side of the series since before 1972, Nascar did attach itself to the Garage 56 entry in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans with Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet, something that caught rival manufacturers Ford and Toyota off guard.

This development comes as Nascar continues to be embroiled in an antitrust lawsuit with 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The Athletic reports that some teams believe France wants to enter a car to prove that it does not cost as much as the lawsuit alleges.

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