France family members arrested for having cocaine

A grandson of late NASCAR founder Bill France faces a drug charge after he and his half brother were spotted racing each other in separate vehicles over the Seabreeze Bridge, police said.


France


Richmond

J.C. France and Russell Van Richmond were charged with DUI and possession of cocaine. Van Richmond also is charged with possession of hydrocodone and threat by corruption of a public official.

Van Richmond, 40, is the son of a former wife of J.C. France's father. Van Richmond threatened a female officer, telling her, "Do you know who I am? I'm a France. We own this city," according to the report.

France, 43, is a race car driver in the Grand-Am circuit, which was founded by his father, Jim France. Van Richmond owns a state-licensed geology business, records show. They live in a million-dollar riverside home on Revilo Boulevard.

France is expected to be suspended immediately and indefinitely by Grand-Am, said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. NASCAR owns the Grand-Am circuit.

According to the reports, the men were racing each other over the bridge just after midnight. France was stopped at Mason and Ridgewood avenues after police said he sped over the bridge in his green 2007 Lamborghini, the report shows. His housemate, stopped in a Porsche sport utility vehicle, was pulled over minutes later at Fairview Avenue and Ridgewood, police said.

The pockets of both men were searched and police found plastic bags with cocaine in them, according to the report.

Both men, who had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, were also charged with DUI, police said.

Both men bailed out at 1 p.m. today. France posted $4,500 bail and Van Richmond on $10,500 bail.

France and Van Richmond could not be reached for comment today. No one was at the white house on Revilo Boulevard that ends in a cul-de-sac. The house, which sits on the bank of the Halifax River is surrounded by overgrown plants and a lawn with ankle high grass. A glass top table on a red brick back porch held dirty ash trays. Daytona Beach News Journal