In 2023, NASCAR crashed the world’s fanciest party—the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With France at the helm, NASCAR teamed up with Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet, and Goodyear to drop a thunderous Camaro ZL1 on the hallowed French circuit. It was loud, bold, and impossible to miss—especially for Ford and Toyota, who weren’t exactly clapping from the sidelines. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s déjà vu, but this time, stateside.

France reportedly backed a plan to finance a Spire Motorsport Cup Series entry with IMSA Driver Jack Aitken behind the wheel. The car was prepped, the team was ready, but the rival teams hit the brakes hard. Allegations of conflict of interest forced France to back out before the green flag ever dropped. As Spire Motorsports is in damage control mode, accusing the NASCAR garage of stirring up unwanted heartache, one can’t help but feel for the co-owner as he lays it all out; he’s frustrated, honest, and maybe even a little heartbroken.

Jeff Dickerson tries to clear the air

Jeff Dickerson did not walk into the garage expecting to stir up a NASCAR-wide trust crisis—he just picked up his phone. In a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR posted on Instagram, he came forward to share his thoughts, aiming to clarify misconceptions at the heart of the NASCAR community. Jeff put simply, saying, “There was a driver, there was a sponsor, and Jim wanted to see how Jack could do in a Cup car on a road course. So we were like, yeah, let’s do it. Sounds simple enough, right?” In theory. Apparently, NASCAR doesn’t do simple anymore.

Dickerson went on to explain, sounding more puzzled than defensive, saying, “What was perceived to be happening was maybe causing more heartache than what was actually happening in reality. I mean, to me, I was just answering my phone — you know what I mean?” he wasn’t denying the reaction in the garage; he just didn’t expect the situation to blow up the way it did. The garage saw this opportunity as Jim France having an upper hand in the sport, but that wasn’t the case at all.

However, Dickerson admitted that the team also could have handled or worked around this idea a bit better. “Now, maybe I should have done a better job thinking a few steps ahead. And maybe the optics of it weren’t great — maybe. But I didn’t jump out of the race or treat it any differently than I would have for anyone else calling in, saying, ‘Hey, we got a guy, we got a sponsor,’ and asking if we can put something together.”

And he backed up NASCAR CEO Jim France, insisting that it was business as usual. “ It’s not like Jim had a NASCAR team. It was our stuff. It was our team, our crew, our crew chief — you know what I’m saying? So that’s where it gets tricky. I don’t know how deep you guys really want to get into it — or if I even want to. But it just didn’t seem that abnormal. For guys like Jim or whoever, it was just like, you race, and you want to go racing. He wanted to see what it was like. And I don’t think his intentions were any deeper than that, really.”

But still, the raised eyebrows in the garage told a different story.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the garage’s favorite elder statesman and occasional peacemaker, also shared his thoughts on this. On his podcast, Dale Junior jumped in to calm the chaos, especially over people coming at Jim Francis that he was plotting against NASCAR. Although Junior also agrees that Jim France didn’t need to have a Cup car altogether, he’s still backed him up. He says, “ I see James’s point, and I hope that the teams can move forward and agree, but I also think that there’ll be other opportunities down the road to bring the argument back up.”

Dale Jr. went on to elaborate on his relationship with the France family, saying, “Jim is an amazing guy. I’ve known him most of my life. Bill Senior started NASCAR; he created it. It’s his dream, his vision. Everything that is in this room, all of our lives as we know it, are affected by what that man created and the vision he had.” Junior took a moment to acknowledge the significant contributions of the France family to NASCAR. However, there was certain discouragement from a 56-time Cup series winner as he jumped on the bandwagon too.

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Denny Hamlin blasts NASCAR conflict as Aitken’s shot gets sidelined

Denny Hamlin did not hold back on his thoughts about the Jim France-backed Spire Motorsports situation. Hamlin, labeling it a wild conflict of interest, said, “ I fought very, very hard and opposed the fact that France family could own charters. I think that’s just wildly conflict of interest.” The timing couldn’t be worse, with France currently tangled in a legal battle against 2 Cup teams, 23XI Racing (co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan) and Front Row Motorsports, over the NASCAR charter system which guarantees race entries and revenue.

Hamelin compared the controversy to the Roger Penske saga in IndyCar, emphasizing how NASCAR leadership’s involvement in team ownership muddles the water. He suggests the lines were blurring a bit too much in NASCAR, especially when the word on the street is that Hendrick and Spire were working collaboratively. Hinting at the close ties between Spire, Hendrick Motorsports, and Jim France’s IMSA connections.

Amidst the drama, Jack Aitken emerges as a driver best positioned for the spotlight. Known for stepping up during George Russell’s absence in F1 and impressing in IMSA endurance racing, Aitken has shown his mettle on some of this sport’s toughest circuits. His 2024 season included podium finishes at Daytona, Long Beach, and Laguna Seca, plus a record-setting IMSA GTP pole at Petit Le Mans.

Jack fit perfectly as the choice for a cup series road race entry—a role that demands precision over pack aggression. Team manager Gary Nelson put it simply: “ he has proven to be fast on track, a fast learner of the GTP car and an asset to the team.” However, Jack’s dream of a NASCAR Cup Series debut ended before it could even leave the pit. The timing, the politics—call it what you want, but the opportunity fizzled out just as fast as it sparked. Maybe next time, the stars (and the garage) will align, and Aitken will finally get his shot at America’s biggest stock car stage. Thoughts?