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Jim France questioned over salary, ownership stake during NASCAR antitrust trial

JHby: Jonathan Howard9 hours agoJondean25

As 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports start to wind down their arguments in court, Jim France is on the stand. The NASCAR owner was asked about his salary as well as his ownership stake in the sport.

Today was perhaps the most anticipated day of testimony. Commissioner Steve Phelps, Richard Childress, and Jim France all took the stand today. Soon, NASCAR will present their defense to the court.

“Jim France has taken the stand as the last witness for plaintiffs, with France confirming that his salary is around $3.5 million annually and his side of the family owns 54% of France Enterprises Inc., which is the holding company of NASCAR (Lesa France Kennedy’s side owns 46%),” Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported.

So, the France family owns 100% of NASCAR. Jim France owns a majority stake of the company, with the France-Kennedy family owning a slightly smaller minority stake. While France admits he makes $3.5 million annually, it was revealed that his family took in $397 million between 2021 and 2024 to their family trust.

Steve Phelps testified that about 75% of that $397 million figure was used to pay taxes. That leaves roughly $99,250,000 leftover to the France Family trust.

Jim France takes stand after Richard Childress

Today’s testimony was very interesting for NASCAR fans. It felt like the big finale of this entire part of the trial. The Plaintiffs ended with Steve Phelps, Richard Childress, and Jim France. That’s a big trio to end it on.

Richard Childress didn’t say a lot that we didn’t already know about. However, he did get a surprise when NASCAR’s attorneys asked him about potentially selling part of RCR to an outside investment group. That potential sale fell through, but was supposed to be confidential information under an NDA.

Childress was later asked outside of court about those “redneck” text messages from Steve Phelps. Those messages were not allowed in court. Childress did not comment. Remember, he is still contemplating legal action over those same messages. So, that could be a sign he is seriously considering that option even now.