Lesa France Kennedy tops Forbes' list of 25 The Most Powerful Women in Sports
International Speedway Corp. CEO Lesa France Kennedy tops this year's Forbes magazine list of The 25 Most Powerful Women In Sports.
Kennedy, who also serves as the vice chairperson of the board of directors for both ISC and NASCAR, is a key member of the sanctioning body's first family.
She is the granddaughter of NASCAR founder William Henry Getty France a/k/a "Big Bill," and the daughter of long-time NASCAR head Bill France Jr. Kennedy's brother, Brian, is the chairman and CEO of NASCAR, while her son, Ben, is a racer.
Kennedy received a B.A. in economics and a B.A. in psychology from Duke University in 1983 and joined ISC the same year.
And as the leader of ISC, Kennedy is the person in charge of a company that owns and/or operates 13 race tracks, with some 930,000 grandstand seats and 500 suites. ISC's facilities are located in six of the nation's top-13 media markets,
"As CEO of International Speedway Corporation (ISC), Kennedy manages thirteen of America's biggest race tracks, while also playing a key role in steering the multibillion-dollar juggernaut that is NASCAR as a member of its board of directors," Forbes wrote. "...the 54-year-old Kennedy has spent more than three decades leading ISC's expansion out of the South with the construction and acquisition of tracks in Illinois, New York, California and several other states."
