Driving Influence

If you remember the good old days of "The King Of Queens" on television, you might recall an episode in which Carrie failed her driver's license re-test, and as she questioned the right of the people at the MVA to say who could or could not pass their test, her husband Doug pointed out, "They're the DEPARTMENT of DRIVING!"

Similarly, you would think that the people involved in NASCAR - the organization that charges people money to sit in a broiling seat in the Alabama sun and watch other people drive cars - would be hypervigilant about how their top executives drive their cars.

But here you have it:

NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France was arrested on DUI and drug-possession charges Sunday evening in Sag Harbor, N.Y., the police department there announced Monday. France was pulled over after his 2017 Lexus went through a stop sign at 7:30 p.m. local time, according to a press release from the department. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, TMZ Sports reported. Police also found oxycodone pills during a search, according to the announcement.

France is 56, so it's not like he's a wild child with lessons to learn. (All right, he's not a child.) He's charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated — meaning that his blood alcohol content was above 0.18 — and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is currently free on his own recognizance.

“We are aware of an incident that occurred last night and are in the process of gathering information,” NASCAR said in a statement. “We take this as a serious matter and will issue a statement after we have all of the facts.” And then, the same day, NASCAR put out a statement saying that France has taken an indefinite leave of absence and that, “effective immediately, NASCAR Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Jim France has assumed the role of interim chairman and chief executive officer.”

Jim France is Brian France’s uncle.  Brian France is the grandson of NASCAR founder William H.G. France and son of longtime CEO Bill France Jr, so it's a family business.

Nice mugshot

And part of that business is the Road to Recovery drug-screening program, under which random drivers, crew members and officials are tested at each week’s racetrack. Positive findings lead to suspensions.

We don't know if NASCAR executives have to line up to fill up a cup, though.

It might surprise car racing adherents in Talladega, Daytona, and Darlington, but France does not live in Talladega, Daytona, or Darlington. France and his wife live in Manhattan, but spend as much time in the Hamptons as they can.

NASCAR writer Jack Flowers has written in a book allegations that France had undergone treatment for substance abuse at the Betty Ford Center in California and also had been arrested on drug-possession charges in South Carolina, and while France denied ever going to rehab in an ESPN interview in 2013, but does not claim a totally abstemious past:

“To this day, that still shows up, and I have no idea — obviously I’ve never been to Betty Ford. There have been times where I probably apparently have needed to be. I’m kidding around on that, obviously. All of it is tongue-in-cheek. But I have no idea where he could have — he just made it up. You know? I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not going to say I never inhaled, going back into my teenage days,” France continued. “But I have never checked into [a rehab clinic], or needed to, and have not had those issues.”

All right. I couldn't identify France in a lineup of two other people, and I'm certainly not able to say he's been to Betty Ford or driven drunk or anything of the sort.

But as they say, when two people tell you that you look ill, you'd better lie down, so I hope this man gets help with whatever his problem might be.