Phelps: The France Family Could Sell a Stake in NASCAR

What’s Happening?

Despite its major status within North American sports, NASCAR is one of just a few leagues still privately owned. However, in a new report, NASCAR President Steve Phelps suggests that NASCAR’s owners, the France Family, could sell a stake in NASCAR.

• In an interview with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, Phelps spoke on NASCAR’s growing global brand and, most notably, the interest that private equity firms have in NASCAR. The France family has owned and operated NASCAR since 1949. However, this interview is the first real indication from NASCAR brass that they would take on an outside investor.
• Private equity firms have been investing in more and more sports worldwide in recent years. In this interview, Phelps told Stern, “I believe that PE is good for our sport because they bring money, they bring expertise and they bring sponsors in many cases, so those are all positive things for our sport.”
• Phelps does not supply a time frame for when this could happen. If NASCAR brought an outside investor on, it would be the first time the sport sold an equity stake in itself.
• However, some of NASCAR’s teams have recently taken on private equity investments. For example, on Jan. 29, Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club announced that Knighthead Capital Management had joined the team’s ownership group.
• In 2023, Joe Gibbs Racing took on investment from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. The group recently brought on Lance Snacks, owned by HBSE partner the Campbell’s Company, for the 2025 season. This speaks to Phelps’ comments on the potential sponsor benefits of PE in NASCAR.

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