It was his 10-year anniversary as NASCAR's CEO, but Brian France was in no mood to celebrate.
Instead, he was the focus of a hastily called news conference on Sept. 13 at which he assured outraged fans that the sport was taking drastic measures to address the most tainted finish in its history,
starting with the extraordinary addition of a 13th driver in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The move came after Michael Waltrip Racing was ruled to have manipulated the race at Richmond International Raceway — the cutoff to set the field for the 10-race title playoff — by ordering one of its drivers to take a dive by pitting under the green flag, along with radio chatter that raised suspicion of foul play by other teams.
A day later, on the eve of the championship playoff, France summoned team owners, drivers and crew chiefs to a Chicagoland Speedway infield garage, where he read them the riot act for 20 minutes and brusquely outlined new rules governing integrity. He took no questions.