Dale Earnhardt Jr. addresses NASCAR CEO Jim France amid lawsuit vs. 23XI, FRM

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has nothing but great things to say about NASCAR CEO Jim France amid the lawsuit 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed against NASCAR. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt explained what he likes about France and his family.

“Jim’s an amazing guy. I’ve known him most of my life,” Earnhardt said. Bill [France] Sr. started NASCAR, created it. It’s his dream, his vision. Everything that is in this room, all of our lives as we know it are affected by what that man created and the vision that he had. His son Bill [France] Jr. came in and did an incredible job maintaining the integrity of the sport and moving the sport forward.”

Earnhardt went on to talk about how Jim France took over NASCAR following his nephew and CEO Brian France’s arrest in 2018. “It was a good thing that he was there. It was a good thing that they had him on the roster to put into the starting lineup. I don’t know who they would have put in there otherwise that would have been able to help us to continue to move forward,” Earnhardt said.

Dale Earnhardt calls Jim France a ‘kind man’

“Jim is a kind man, he’s easy to talk to, approachable. He does have a lot of the same characteristics in terms of how he thinks this business should run that his dad (Bill France Sr.) and his brother (Bill France Jr,) had, but he’s a bit softer. …Bill Jr., man he was rigid. …Jim wants to maintain what he believes the vision and integrity of the sport is and always has been. I can understand why he’s fighting for that and try not to let things move in a direction too quickly.”

Earlier this month 23XI and Front Row filed a lawsuit accusing NASCAR and CEO Jim France of “unlawful monopolization of premier stock car racing in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the premier stock car racing teams.” On Wednesday, NASCAR fired back at the two teams in a court filing.

“NASCAR has taken steps, consistent with its contractual obligations to other Charter Teams, to plan for a season with only 32 Charters,” the filing read. “NASCAR is working on reallocating funds that Plaintiffs would have received to increase prize money and other special awards for the 2025 season for the benefit of teams that timely executed 2025 Charters, as well as Open teams who can compete to win the increased prize money.”