NASCAR chairman's son wanted dad to yell at Matt Kenseth

Brant James | USA TODAY Sports

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Brian France’s 5-year-old son Luke, an ardent fan of Joey Logano, posed a simple question to his father after the Team Penske driver was intentionally wrecked by Matt Kenseth at Martinsville Speedway.

“He says to me, “Are you going to yell at Matt Kenseth for that?’,” NASCAR's chairman and CEO recalled, smiling. “I said, ‘Well, I try to not yell at anybody.’ He equates everything to him as yelling.

“(He) said, ‘Well, I hope you yell at him loud, Dad.’”

France playfully responded, “OK, I’ll do that.”

Kenseth received a two-race suspension as decided upon by senior leadership behind executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell. The sanction was upheld through two sets of appeal.

Kenseth met with France before returning for the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway after he brandished an unrepentant attitude in an Associated Press article. The issue had become a divisive diversion as NASCAR worked toward its culmination, including a comical “Free Matt” hashtag coined by teammate Denny Hamlin that eventually evolved into an apparel sale for charity.

Was there any little voice, maybe deep inside France that could chuckle at the hashtag at least?

France, who sat down with USA TODAY Sports for an exclusive interview at Homestead-Miami Speedway, swirls the last of a Coke Zero.

“No,” he says, then finishes it.

But then he concedes, softer, “I can understand it.”

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames

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