France reiterates NASCAR not for sale
We're committed to the business," he said, adding that he still wants to add new tracks in several U.S. cities to fuel growth. It’s the same denial that France issued at the season ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway several weeks ago.
Talk of a possible sale began in Europe with a report from ESPN.com and fueled by reports that a European investment firm was interested in buying NASCAR from the France family. France has said the death earlier this year of his father, Bill France, who helped build the sport's national following, sparked the speculation.
"There's too many stake holders relying on us to bring in private equity or somebody else that would maybe look at the business differently and the sport differently than it should be. We are not for sale," France added. He also repeated he has no plans to step down any time soon as head of the sport.
The France family owns NASCAR, as well as about 62 percent of the voting stock of International Speedway Corp, a leading owner of racetracks including the home of the Daytona 500 in Florida.
France said International Speedway, also known as ISC, is still considering adding tracks in New York and Seattle, and reiterated interest in the Denver market. Last December, ISC abandoned efforts to develop a New York track on Staten Island, and did the same in the Seattle area four months later.
"You're going to have some two-steps-forward, one-back mentality and we have had that. New York, Seattle, Denver, all are markets that are interesting to us, in particular New York. Staten Island is not an option, but that doesn't mean there aren't others," he said, adding ISC is looking at alternatives.
However, he cautioned the projects could take years to complete.
"If you look at any stadium development, in particular ours because we need so much real estate, they take 10 or 15 years sometimes to get fully developed," France said. Cup Scene