France was born and raised in Daytona Beach, Florida. He graduated from Seabreeze High School and attended Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, earning a business degree in 1968.
France began working for his father at ISC in 1959 at the age of fourteen. He rose through the organisation over the following decades, acceding to the ISC presidency in 1987. When his father died in 1992, Jim and his brother Bill France Jr. jointly inherited control of both NASCAR and ISC. Jim served as a member and for a period as secretary of the NASCAR board of directors and functioned as a close advisor to his brother throughout Bill Jr.'s tenure as NASCAR president until 2000 and as CEO and chairman until 2004. Bill France Jr. acknowledged the collaborative nature of their leadership, noting that the two had essentially guided NASCAR together in an informal partnership despite the singular public prominence of the older brother.
When Brian France succeeded his father as NASCAR chairman in 2003, Jim France continued in a similar advisory capacity to his nephew, a role that became especially significant after Bill France Jr. died in 2007.
On August 6, 2018, the day after Brian France was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of oxycodone, Jim France assumed the role of interim CEO and chairman of NASCAR. As Brian France took a formal leave of absence from all NASCAR duties pending resolution of his legal case, the interim designation was subsequently dropped, and Jim France became the permanent CEO and chairman of NASCAR in February 2019.
He held the position until April 24, 2026, when it was announced that France would step down, with Steve O'Donnell taking over as CEO.
In 1999, France founded Grand-Am Road Racing, a North American sanctioning body for road racing. Grand-Am ultimately governed five series, including the Rolex Sports Car Series — the successor to the United States Road Racing Championship and the host organisation for the 24 Hours of Daytona — the Michelin Pilot Challenge touring car league, and the SunTrust Moto-ST endurance motorcycle series. Grand-Am also operated the North American arm of the international Ferrari Challenge.
France is the owner of Action Express Racing, a team competing in the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the endurance prototype classes.
As of January 2023, Forbes estimated France's net worth at approximately 1.8 billion US dollars.