His name is Ben Kennedy, but he is most certainly a France.
The 30-year-old is the fourth generation of one of the most significant families in sports history. His great-grandfather was “Big Bill” France, the creator of NASCAR in 1947.
His grandfather was Bill France Jr., who took his father’s vision and built NASCAR from a regional sport to one with tremendous national interest.
Kennedy’s uncle is Jim France, the chief executive officer, chairman and executive vice president of NASCAR.
His mother is Lesa France Kennedy, who spent most of her professional life focused on the family’s race track empire under the International Speedway Corp. banner. She is now NASCAR’s executive vice chairman.
Ben Kennedy is next in line of NASCAR’s first family and he currently serves as the sanctioning body’s senior vice president for strategic development.
Prior to that, Kennedy served as vice president of racing operations and led domestic and international operations for NASCAR.
Simply put, Kennedy is being groomed to one day take over the France family business and lead NASCAR.
“It was late 2017 and early ’18 when I made the decision to leave the racing side of it and join the business side,” Kennedy told SPEED SPORT. “It was a difficult decision and something I thought about for months. It really came down to a few conversations I had with Steve Phelps (NASCAR president) and Steve O’Donnell (NASCAR executive vice president, chief racing officer) and, obviously, some folks in the family, too.
“It was a very uncomfortable point where I realized it was a great opportunity for me. I’m young. I’m healthy and I’m motivated. I realized long term this is where I’m going to end up.
“What better opportunity now when I was in my mid-20s to take advantage of it, be a sponge for the next couple of years and take on this leadership opportunity.”
Kennedy has a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in racing. He is a former driver and a current team owner.
Kennedy began his racing career in 2009 behind the wheel of a four-horsepower quarter midget.
Most recently, he raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing and GMS Racing. Kennedy also competed full time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from 2014-’16, winning a race and earning a playoff berth in 2016.
Kennedy received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and owns an ARCA Menards Series team.
That experience has prepared him for the unique understanding of what it takes from a team standpoint. That is an asset and value to his current role with NASCAR.
“It’s really helpful being on the driver’s side,” Kennedy said. “When you are living through the racing side of it and then come over to the business side, you are not really sure how much the previous experience will apply to the NASCAR world.
“Being on the business side, there are a number of lessons that I have learned first off from being a driver but also from the team ownership side,” Kennedy continued. “I’ve had a team for 10 years in late model and ARCA and understanding the team business model, what some of the challenges are and what some of the opportunities are.
“You can have conversations with drivers that are competition related from how we are thinking about managing their time all the way to the team side and how to drive as much efficiency as we can. I’ve had a lot of good learnings in all of those areas.”
Over the generations of NASCAR, a lot of team owners were self-taught businessmen. Junior Johnson was both a legendary driver and a highly successful team owner who went on to be quite wealthy.
Richard Childress was a struggling independent driver from very modest beginnings who has since become a NASCAR legend as a team owner and a multi-millionaire.
One of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history was Dale Earnhardt, who quit high school when he was 16 and ultimately became one of the wealthiest drivers of his era with a sharp business acumen.
“A lot of them began as racers and understood from a racing and driving standpoint what went into a team,” Kennedy said. “Once they started a team, they understood what it took.
“The business model has evolved over the generations. The team owners have a unique perspective on where we have come, where we are now and what we are going to be doing in the future.”
In today’s NASCAR, however, proper business training and a college education are essential, especially at the sanctioning body as it helps guide the sport into the future.
“It helps tremendously,” Kennedy said. “I studied sports management at the University of Florida. On the education side, it’s tremendously helpful when you look at the NFL and the NBA, you are talking about facility operations and sports marketing, sports legal, there was a lot of really good learning that I had at the University of Florida.
“Secondly, the relationships I was able to build while I was there,” he continued. “Some of those that I have had the opportunity to meet with, I’m now doing business with, too. Those help apply to what I’m doing now.”
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