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Report: France family exploring possible sale of NASCAR

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during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 29, 2018 in Talladega, Alabama.

Brian Lawdermilk

Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that the France family is exploring the possibility of selling their entire stake in NASCAR.

The report states that the France family is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group to identify a potential deal for the company, according to unnamed sources. Those sources also stated, according to the report, that the deliberations are at an exploratory stage, and no agreement of any kind is certain.

A NASCAR spokesperson told NBC Sports on Monday that “we do not have a comment on this.’’

Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR in 1948 and the family’s heirs have run the organization since. Bill France Jr. replaced his father as NASCAR President in 1972, a position he held until 2000. He was NASCAR Chairman and CEO until 2003 when Brian France took over from his father and has held the position since.

In a February 2017 story, The Wall Street Journal reported the Brian France had sold his stake to other family members more than a decade earlier.

The WSJ story said Jim France, Brian’s uncle, and Lesa France Kennedy, Brian’s sister, still hold stakes in the privately held company, and that they must approve any “major changes” in NASCAR.
Jim France also is chairman of the board of publicly traded International Speedway Corp., which has Lesa France Kennedy as its CEO. ISC owns 12 tracks which play host to races on NASCAR’s premier circuit.