A number of potential investors have held 'informal talks' about the idea of purchasing minority stakes in NASCAR.
The sport has famously been owned by the France family since Bill France Sr. founded it in 1948, but a report from John Ourand in Puck suggests that could change in part in the future.
While making it clear that no sale is imminent and any talks with media companies or private equity money are in the feeling-out mode, the reporting from Ourand has opened the door to some people or organizations outside the France family getting involved in ownership of the series.
As noted in the Puck article, the family has looked into the idea of a sale the last decade – hiring Goldman Sachs to explore the market in 2018, with NBCUniversal 'close to a deal' before its parent company Comcast chose to splash out $40bn on Sky.
NASCAR lawsuit fallout still ongoing
There's no doubt that last year's protracted lawsuit brought by two of its teams has damaged NASCAR somewhat, partly in terms of the concessions it gave up when settling the suit last month (including permanent team charters) but also in terms of the nature of some of the evidence in the suit itself.
NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps stepped down this week, his position made broadly untenable after the release of internal texts in which he called Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick a 'stupid redneck' who should be 'taken out back and flogged'.
Phelps' exit may be the only one related to the acrimonious case which cast a shadow over the whole 2025 season, but there have also been questions about the future of president Steve O’Donnell, while The Athletic's Jeff Gluck has directly called for chairman and CEO Jim France to step down.
Even if things do drift in the direction of a sale though, don't expect things to move quickly – and certainly don't expect the France family to give up control of the sport they see as theirs unless they're given very significant motivation.
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