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The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in the world and is one of the largest spectator sports in America. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe.
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about 50 mi (80 km) north of Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. The venue also hosts the 24 Hours of Daytona, the most prestigious IMSA race and one of the three events that make up the Triple Crown of endurance racing. In addition to NASCAR and IMSA, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, SCCA, and AMA Supercross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.500 mi (4.023 km) high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi (5.729 km) sports car course, a 2.950 mi (4.748 km) motorcycle course, and a 1,320 ft (400 m) karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing.
Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.520 mi (2.446 km) tri-oval speedway with a curved backstretch in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyCar Series, recording numerous close finishes including the closest finish in IndyCar history. The speedway is owned and operated by NASCAR.
Kansas Speedway is a 1.500-mile (2.414 km) tri-oval intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The track, since its inaugural season of racing in 2001, has hosted a variety of racing series, including NASCAR, IndyCar, and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. The track has been owned by NASCAR since 2019, with Patrick Warren serving as the track's president. The track is served by the concurrent Interstate 70, U.S. Route 24, and U.S. Route 40, along with Interstate 435.
International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business was the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International Speedway and in 1999 it merged with Penske Motorsports to become one of the largest motorsports companies in North America. The company played an important, though controversial, role in the modernization of the sport. It worked with NASCAR to create new tracks and update older ones in an effort to improve the racing and the experience for spectators and has constructed popular new tracks in regions previously thought uninterested in NASCAR. Because both companies have several members of the France family in top positions, ISC's competitors have filed multiple lawsuits on antitrust grounds
Martinsville Speedway is a stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in stock car racing, being built in 1947 by partners H. Clay Earles, Henry Lawrence, and Sam Rice, nearly a year before NASCAR was officially formed. It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948. Along with this, Martinsville is the only oval track on the NASCAR circuit to have asphalt surfaces on the straightaways and concrete to cover the turns. At 0.526 miles (847 m) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. It is owned by NASCAR.
Danica Sue Patrick is an American former professional racing driver. She is one of the most successful women in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman in an IndyCar Series race.
Valerie B. Ackerman is an American sports executive, former lawyer, and former basketball player. She is the current commissioner of the Big East Conference. She is best known for being the first president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), serving from 1996 to 2005. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado, that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several series including the Indy Racing League and two NASCAR series until operations were suspended from August 2005. A wide variety of amateur racing groups use PPIR for racing and training as the circuit is now closed to sanctioned professional auto racing due to the purchase of the track by PPIR LLC from NASCAR/ISC in 2008 after the track was put up for sale in 2006. The sale included a clause that prohibited sanctioned professional auto racing, as well as the need for additional safety upgrades at a cost of $1 million+ for professional racing series that the new ownership had no interest in implementing with the clause in place.
The France family is known as the "first family" of NASCAR racing. NASCAR was founded by Bill France, Sr. in 1948 and to this day France family members own and operate NASCAR. Jim France, one of the sons of the founder, is the current chairman and CEO after Brian France's arrest on August 6, 2018 and subsequent leave from the position. The France family also controls International Speedway Corporation and International Motor Sports Association.
Ferko, et al. v. National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc., et al., commonly known as the Ferko lawsuit, was an American lawsuit between plaintiff Francis Ferko, a resident of Plano, Texas, and a minor shareholder of the then-publicly traded Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI), and defendants NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation (ISC), which are both owned by the France family. Ferko filed a derivative suit that contended NASCAR and ISC violated an implied agreement with SMI to provide a second NEXTEL Cup race per racing season upon completion of Texas Motor Speedway, and violated antitrust laws by preventing SMI from obtaining one.
Brian Zachary France is an American businessman and the former CEO and chairman of NASCAR. He served in the post from 2003 to 2018, following his grandfather Bill France Sr. and father Bill Jr., in the executive position. In 2019, France founded Silver Falcon Capital, Inc. and became CEO of the private investing firm.
William Clifton France, better known as Bill France Jr. or Little Billy, was an American motorsports executive who served from 1972 to 2000 as the chief executive officer (CEO) of NASCAR, the sanctioning body of the US-based stock car racing. He succeeded his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. as its CEO. His son, Brian France, was the CEO from 2003 to 2018.
The 1998 Daytona 500, the 40th running of the event, was held on February 15 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was Dale Earnhardt's only Daytona 500 victory after 19 previous attempts. It was Earnhardt's 20th 500 start and CBS's 20th consecutive live broadcast of the Daytona 500. Also, his Daytona 500 win ended a 59-race winless streak dating back to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 1996.
James Carl France is an American motorsports executive. He is the chief executive officer (CEO), the chairman, and executive vice president of NASCAR, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of International Speedway Corporation (ISC) and the owner of the IMSA team Action Express Racing. Jim is the son of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.
Patti Wheeler, is the president and owner of Wheeler Television, Inc., a television production company specializing in motorsports for national broadcast and cable networks. Wheeler is an Executive Member of Cannon School Trustee board and a member of the board of the Lake Norman YMCA.
Benjamin Kennedy is an American motorsports executive and former professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently serves as NASCAR's senior vice president of racing development and strategy.
Julia G. Landauer is an American professional stock car racing driver and motivational speaker. She last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 45/44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. She has also raced in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, driving for Bill McAnally Racing and Sunrise Ford Racing, and in 2016 became the highest-finishing female ever in the season-long points tally, finishing fourth.
Gillian Zucker is an American sports executive, currently serving as the president of business operations of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. Prior to her hiring by the Clippers, Zucker served nine years as the president of the Auto Club Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned race track in Fontana, California, approximately 55 miles east of Los Angeles.
Anne Finucane is an American banker who is vice chair of Bank of America and chair of the board of Bank of America Europe. She leads the bank's socially responsible investing, global public policy, and environmental, social and corporate governance committee. She has worked in the banking industry since 1995, when she joined Fleet Financial, which later merged with the short-lived BankBoston to become part of Bank of America. She serves on the boards of several organizations. She lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
References
- ↑ "NASCAR closes merger with ISC | NASCAR.com". Official Site Of NASCAR. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ↑ "Lesa France Kennedy". International Speedway Corporation. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ King, Bill (2001-10-15). "Executive VP named Female Sports Executive of the Year". SportsBusiness Daily. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Stocks". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Lesa France Kennedy". Geni. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Lesa France Kennedy Named Most Influential Woman in Sports Business". Truckseries.com. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
- ↑ "The Most Powerful Women In Sports". Forbes,com. 2009-10-14.
- ↑ "Lesa France Kennedy". The Business Journals. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "2006 – Lesa France Kennedy – International Speedway". American Marketing Association. 2 July 2006. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ Meet the 30 Most Powerful Women in Sports Adweek, June 26, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ↑ "Most Influential: Property Pacesetters". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
- ↑ Magazine, Triathlon (2021-12-01). "Ready to Clash? The story behind the new multisport series and its speedway thrills". Triathlon Magazine Canada. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
- ↑ 2019 married Bill Christy, CEO CLASH USA a sports event media company. Archived October 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine