Brad Keselowski criticizes NASCAR CEO Brian France’s leadership

Brad Keselowski mulled the question on if he were in charge of NASCAR, what one thing would he change, contemplating just how candid he should be and whether to anger the sanctioning body or his wife. Either way he figured, it was going to cost him monetarily -- it was only a matter to what degree.

After a few seconds, Keselowski elected against saying something that could get him in trouble with his wife. Instead, he spoke about NASCAR’s leadership, and the frequency in which NASCAR CEO and chairman Brian France attends races.

”I would change to where the leader of the sport is at the race track every weekend,” Keselowski said.

That response stemmed from him using Twitter to solicit possible questions the media could ask him during his session at the annual preseason media tour.

This is not the first time France has faced criticism regarding whether he should have a more visible presence on race weekends. Retired three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart said in a 2016 interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that France needed to attend more races, as well as meetings between the sanctioning body and its drivers.

France has maintained that his leadership is different than his grandfather, who founded NASCAR in 1948, and his father, who ran the sport for decades. Those two were omnipresent in the garage. France prefers to work behind the scenes and delegate day-to-day duties to executives within the company.

But Keselowski counters that any sport dependent on corporate sponsorship necessitates that its leader maintain a regular public presence. Especially significant, he said, in a period where many teams are struggling to find adequate sponsorship while television ratings and attendance have been flat.

“It is important for any company that relies so heavily on outside partners to have a direct interface,” Keselowski said. “This is such a big ship with so much going on week to week. With some respect, I would say that it is impossible for the sport to be managed with someone being here every week because of the travel situations being what they are and different things that come up. I completely understand that. But to some extent, you have to be here.”