Just hours before the start of Super Tuesday, a series of presidential election primaries heavily weighted toward the South, NASCAR CEO Brian France and several notable drivers have pledged their support for Donald Trump as he seeks the Republican nomination.

"I've known Donald for over 20 years," France said at a rally in Valdosta, Ga. "I'm going to tell you one thing: you know about his winning and success. He wins with his family. Any of his children, you'd be proud to have in your family. That's how I judge a winner."

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, right, endorses Donald Trump for president. (AP) More

Also participating in the rally: NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, his son Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman and David Ragan. All but Newman are from Georgia.

It's a stark turnaround from July, when NASCAR announced that it would not hold its Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series banquets at the Trump National Doral Resort after Trump's controversial comments on immigrants. At the time, Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis wrote an open letter declaring that neither he nor anyone from Camping World would participate in any event at a Trump resort "due to recent and ongoing blatantly bigoted and racist comments from Donald Trump in regards to immigrants of the United States."

The letter continued: "Our company will not stand to support any person or organization that associates with such beliefs, and we feel strongly about distancing ourselves from any negative and discriminatory comments made against any gender, ethnicity, age group or so forth," Lemonis wrote. "I would hope that the entire NASCAR organization would agree with my sentiments."

In response to an inquiry from Yahoo Sports regarding France's endorsement in light of the July withdrawal, NASCAR VP David Higdon responded, "Private personal decision by Brian."

Lemonis tweeted the following Monday night after the endorsement:

There is no place for politics/any political endorsements in any business. Your customers and employees should have their own mind. #period — Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis) March 1, 2016

Trump more welcomed the endorsement. "If the people that like and watch NASCAR vote for Donald Trump," Trump said at the rally Monday, "they can cancel the election right now. Nobody [else] can win."

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

