But France admits he probably shouldn’t have been shocked by the reaction. His own wife warned him endorsing Trump would cause a storm.
“I was surprised a little bit. As it turns out, he’s a polarizing figure. I probably shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was,” France said during a meeting with Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE).
MORE: Presidential moments in sports | France continues to deliver mixed messages on NASCAR in politics
NASCAR policy has always allowed drivers to support their own political candidates. It will do so again this year as Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton battle into November
“That’s their right, their civic right, to do whatever they want to do,” said France.
He noted NASCAR is not a “political” organization.
“We’re not policy makers. We may like one thing or another, or have one personal feeling or another, and it should be left at that. But I understand that social and digital media today have made that a different discussion.”
France’s Trump endorsement has “roiled a sport his family built from the ground up,” wrote the Associated Press.
The NASCAR boss appeared at a Trump campaign rally earlier this year. But France previously told AP that he supported President Barack Obama in 2008. Via AP:
The beat heart of NASCAR country is Charlotte, N.C. France tread more lightly around whether he and NASCAR can or will apply any pressure over the state’s controversial LGBT law. France said NASCAR is using its influence behind the scenes rather than taking a more public stand.
“We try to be part of a solution, not part of a bunch of threats,” he said, pointing out that 26 U.S. states have similar laws.
But France’s timid reaction to the North Carolina controversy drew a stern rebuke from AP writer Paul Newberry who said the “bumbling” chairman had “whiffed completely” on the issue:
