Former NASCAR CEO Brian France has pleaded guilty in a drunk driving case from 2018.
According to Yahoo! Sports, France’s guilty plea came with a deal that will see the former NASCAR head be required to complete 100 hours of community service, as well as seek counseling for his alcohol issues.
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If he fully complies with the terms of his deal ahead of his sentencing date, then he will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and his charge will be reduced to Driving While Ability Impaired, which is a lesser traffic violation charge.
However, if he does not meet the terms of his agreement with the prosecutor, his sentencing will be a misdemeanor conviction.
France was pulled over on in August 2018, after reportedly running a stop sign. When officers attempted to talk with France they quickly became suspicious that he might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The officers put France through a field sobriety test, and he did not pass. This resulted in the officers placing him under arrest and charging him with both drunk driving and criminal possession of a controlled substance, due to him having oxycodone pills at the time.
He subsequently stepped down from his position as the head of NASCAR, issuing a statement where he apologized for “the impact” that his actions had on his “family” and the NASCAR “industry.”
“Brian France has taken an indefinite leave of absence from NASCAR as chairman and chief executive officer,” added a statement from NASCAR on France’s resignation. “Effective immediately, NASCAR Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Jim France has assumed the role of interim chairman and chief executive officer.”
In a statement before his resignation, NASCAR said that they were “aware of an incident that occurred last night and are in the process of gathering information. We take this as a serious matter and will issue a statement after we have all of the facts.”
Notably, after his arrest, many NASCAR fans took to social media to comment on the news, with many expressing that they were not surprised and stating that they were not big fans of France to begin with.
“To all non-NASCAR fans stumbling across the Brian France story,” one fan wrote, in an attempt to reach those who may not be familiar with Brian France. “Understand that ALMOST EVERY FAN does not like Brian France. He does not represent the sport to the majority of us.”
France is due back in court in one year, on June 5, 2020.
