Dale Earnhardt Jr: Jim France Should Have “Shielded His Involvement” in Spire Car

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In the latest episode of the Dale Jr Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr gave his take on NASCAR CEO Jim France’s attempt to fund a car for the upcoming race at Sonoma Raceway.

Last week, news that NASCAR CEO Jim France planned to fund a car driven by his IMSA driver, Jack Aitken, at an upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race swept the NASCAR community. While this would have been through Spire Motorsports rather than a team owned by France, it raised concerns about the metaphorical separation of church and state in NASCAR.

On the Dale Jr. Download, NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave his thoughts on the bombshell report from Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, and his thoughts on how France should have approached this attempted entry.

In the NASCAR Hall of Famers’ opinion, Jim France or any member of the France family owning or supporting an entry should have been done in prior NASCAR history, rather than something they start doing now. Earnhart even goes on to say, “It just doesn’t seem like it’s very productive to do it now.”

“Had Jim France and his family owned cars for all of these decades of NASCAR, then grandfathered that in, and then if that ever ended, we would just be done with it. But at this point, it just doesn’t seem like it’s very productive to do it now.” — Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The garage resisted the idea of France’s involvement in entering a car, which ultimately spelled the entry’s demise. Earnhardt said he understands France’s good intentions in funding this car, calling it a “fun thing.” However, he suggests that France should have “shielded his involvement” in the process to protect the entry’s integrity.

“What he could have done was shield his involvement. He probably could have still got Jack Aitken in a Spire car, still got him [Aitken] on the racetrack at Sonoma, and shielded his involvement or even his connection to Jack and the partners that would support this program. I don’t know how this all leaked out or how it was discovered, but it certainly could have been done differently where it would have still happened, not bothered anybody.” — Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt, however, agrees with the garage area and NASCAR fans, who would prefer France’s role to remain within the ownership of the sport rather than a car on the track. “He probably doesn’t need to be in the same conversation around ownership of an actual physical car on the racetrack as the owner of NASCAR,” Earnhardt said. “I think that would probably be my preference. I agree. But I’m not upset about it.”

While it is perhaps no surprise that Earnhardt took the middle ground on this issue, he, unlike others commenting on the situation, finds himself in a similar spot almost on a weekly basis.

While he has played both the role of driver and team owner, it is often overlooked that Dale Earnhardt Jr plays the role of series owner, team owner, and driver in the CARS Tour. This creates a potential conflict of interest for Earnhardt, who compared his experience in walking that “fine line” to the one France almost faced at Sonoma.

“It’s a fine line to walk. Jim’s just trying to run this one-off deal and open car at Sonoma with a road course ringer, and it’s not got legs to become anything, probably more than that, right?” Earnhardt asked. “I run a full-time car in a series that I own, and it can, does, and oftentimes makes things difficult.”

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