By Ben Klayman
NEW YORK (Reuters) - NASCAR Chairman Brian France on Tuesday dismissed the idea that his family would sell any part of their racing company.
"I can't imagine a scenario where that would happen," France, whose family owns the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, told the Reuters Media Summit in New York.
"We're committed to the business," he said, adding that he still wants to add new tracks in several U.S. cities to fuel growth.
Talk of a possible sale began in Europe with a report that a European investment firm was interested in buying NASCAR from the France family. France has said the death earlier this year of his father, Bill France, who helped build the sport's national following, sparked the speculation.
"There's too many stake holders relying on us to bring in private equity or somebody else that would maybe look at the business differently and the sport differently than it should be. We are not for sale," he added, repeating he has no plans to step down any time soon as head of the sport.
France also said the circuit feels the pressure of high energy prices and the economic slowdown in the United States.
"We are feeling it a little bit," he said. "We're more sensitive to high energy prices than maybe most sports and the reason is how far our fans drive to events."
"We will ... feel that in merchandise sales, (but) people love the sport they follow and tend to make it one of the last things they want to not do in tough times," he added. "We'll be fine." Continued...
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