MOTORSPORT: NASCAR a red-faced, rudderless ship

The head of America’s biggest race series, NASCAR, has had to sideline himself after drink-driving and having suspicious yellow pills in his possession.

Brian France, 56, was detained after driving through a stop sign in the affluent Hamptons area of New York and reportedly bragged to police of his relationship with US president Donald Trump, but that didn’t save him from a night in jail.

The embarrassment – France blew 0.18 on a breathalyser, twice the New York limit, and had five oxycodone tablets on him – comes as the France family, which founded and has run NASCAR for 70 years, is believed to have had investment bank Goldman Sachs trying to find a buyer for the stock car series.

Jim France, the 73-year-old uncle of Brian, has assumed the interim titles of chairman and CEO, assisted by Lesa France Kennedy, Brian's sister.

Although not accustomed to public roles, that pair are the major owners of NASCAR, with Brian, according to The Wall Street Journal last year, having sold his entire stake more than a decade ago, yet he was handed the reins of the business – which includes ownership of many of the tracks in the series – in 2003.

Associated Press NASCAR correspondent Jenna Fryer says: “Brian France took charge during a time the sport was booming in popularity and sponsors were beating down the door to get their logos on a race car. Although many of his initiatives were progressive and needed in some form, staunch fans have vehemently rejected his vision.

“He introduced a play-off system, overhauled the design of the series' cars and pushed for diversity within the circuit's predominantly white, male ranks.

“But as viewership has declined, sponsors have pulled out of NASCAR and France has not made himself available to the public. He appeared increasingly detached from NASCAR over the past several seasons and is rarely seen at a race.

“His lack of engagement created a logjam at the top of NASCAR. [Senior executives] have tried to clean up NASCAR’s mess, but they have been ‘handcuffed’ … by an absence of leadership at the very top.

“Jim France and Lesa France Kennedy have become more involved this year and had privately been picking up the slack for Brian France.”

The police report on this week’s incident says: “The defendant’s breath smelled of an intoxicating beverage, his speech was slurred, his eyes were glassy and red, he was unsteady on his feet and he performed poorly on several standard field sobriety tests administered.”

Autoweek reported that 12 years ago France crashed his Lexus into a tree near his home at Daytona Beach, Florida. A witness said he had been driving at a “very reckless speed” and “fell over his own feet” getting out of the car. He is believed to have spent time after that at the Betty Ford Clinic near Los Angeles for drug rehabilitation under an assumed name.

A book, The Dirt Under the Asphalt: An Underground History of Stock Car Racing, suggested France has been dealing with drug issues for decades.

In a statement after this week’s incident France says: “I apologise to our fans, our industry and my family for the impact of my actions. I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from my position to focus on my personal affairs.”

He is the third France to have run NASCAR. Founder Bill France Senior led it from 1948 until 1972, then his eldest son, Bill junior (Brian’s late father), was in charge until 2000.

The most popular NASCAR driver this century, recently-retired Dale Earnhardt Junior, says in his weekly podcast: “I’m sure Brian is disappointed in himself. The one thing I hope is that Brian gets in front of the people he needs to get in front of and gets the assistance and help that he needs to make sure that this is something that doesn’t happen again.”

A consortium of investors led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll has rescued the Force India Formula 1 team that went into administration a fortnight ago on the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The consortium includes six associates of Stroll, among them his Hong Kong business partner Silas Chou, with whom he built the Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors fashion brands, and American John McCaw Junior, whose older brother Bruce owned the PacWest Indy racing team from 1993 to 2002.

The 405 jobs at Force India – the modern incarnation of what was the Jordan team and which finished fourth in last year’s F1 constructors’ world championship but has dropped to sixth this season – have been saved and all creditors are to be paid in full.

These include the team’s engine supplier, Mercedes-Benz, which is owed A$20.5 million, and Mexican driver Sergio Perez, who filed for the administration and is owed about $A5.5 million.

Although instrumental in saving the team, either Perez or French youngster Esteban Ocon is expected to make way for Stroll’s son, 19-year-old son Lance, to join Force India from the Williams team, where he’s in his second season.

The driver line-up could change as soon as the first GP after the mid-season break at Spa in Belgium on the last weekend of this month.

Force India’s problems stemmed from its previous owner, Vijay Mallya, fighting an attempt by India to extradite him from Britain to face charges of fraud. Indian banks are seeking to recover more than $A1.35 billion of loans granted to Mallya’s defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya’s major partner in the team, Sabrata Roy of the Sahara group, has been in a Delhi jail since 2014.

One of Force India’s administrators, Geoff Rowley, said of the Stroll-led buy-out: “It is rare that a company can be rescued and returned to a position of solvency.

“The quality of the various interested parties has been impressive and required careful consideration. Having followed a robust process, we were left with a highly-credible offer to save the company and restore solvency.”