How NASCAR’s founding family transformed Daytona Beach into a motorsports mecca

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Before a new landlord shuttered the iconic Brickyard Lounge and Grill last month, you could walk into the tiny, race-themed restaurant located two miles from Daytona International Speedway, skip the menu and ask them to bring you what NASCAR chairman Jim France orders.

A 1-pound cheeseburger burger and basket of crispy fries appeared.

At 70-year-old Mario’s Restaurant in nearby Ormond Beach, the hostess says with first-hand knowledge that the late Bill France Sr. ordered the grouper francaise whenever the family popped in.

NASCAR’s founding family members are regulars at nearly every restaurant — dive or upscale — as well as the local shops and businesses that comprise the city’s roughly 75,000 people living along 23 miles of central Florida’s coastline.

“The Frances are wonderful people who come in for lunch,” said Annette Allan, owner of the Brickyard. “They treat the employees very well and are some of our favorite customers.”

Four generations have set roots in the city since France Sr. fled Washington, D.C., in the mid-1930s to escape the Great Depression. He was an aspiring racer and landed in Daytona Beach, where men like him were already running hot rods on the famed beach.

By 1940, he was considered the best stock-car driver in the country and was fed up with unsavory race promoters running chaotic events in which participants were shorted their share of the purse. He bandied a group together for a meeting at the Streamline Hotel, where they created the framework for what is now NASCAR.

The family never relinquished control and instead built NASCAR into a billion-dollar company that stands as the top motorsports series in the United States. The family also never left Daytona Beach.

“It is pretty remarkable that family, multiple generations, has chosen to stay here when they could literally live anywhere in the United States,” said Lori Campbell Baker, a resident since 1991 and executive director of the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“They have put Daytona Beach on the map for millions of people, and they invest in this community. That name recognition has given the city several Super Bowls without ever having to bid on them. Daytona Beach is known as a place to compete, and we could never have afforded, never had the budget, that the advertising the France family and the speedway gives us for free.”

Daytona International Speedway

France Sr. began construction in 1957 for Daytona International Speedway, where a 78th season of NASCAR begins Sunday with the Daytona 500, and the facility anchors the city. It already has held one world-class event this year, last month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, the most prestigious endurance race in North America.

The track is open nearly daily for various racing events, and the grounds are used for everything from 5K runs to “Welcome to Rockville,” a four-day music festival that recently signed a 10-year extension with the track.

But the speedway’s impact is felt throughout the city, where the civic center has a robust calendar of conventions, expos and competitions. At the same time as the Rolex last month, thousands of cheerleaders flocked to the city for an annual competition. Gymnastics champions are crowned in Daytona, volleyball tournaments and archery competitions are won, and even the Florida Truck Driving Championship is held.

“Instead of saying, ‘We’re going to compete for the championship,’ people say, ‘We’re going to Daytona Beach,’” Campbell Baker said. “We get so many ancillary events because people think, ‘If Daytona Beach is the big place, we need to compete there, too.’”

One Daytona

One of the most important France contributions to the city has been One Daytona, a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use lifestyle and entertainment center directly across from the speedway. It was the vision of Lesa France Kennedy, executive vice chair of NASCAR and France Sr.’s granddaughter.

Opened in late 2017 and developed by a France-owned company, it is a year-round dining, shopping and entertainment destination that complements the “World Center of Racing.”

Without the facility, Daytona Beach has no Costco, no Bass Pro Shops, no P.F. Chang’s or the race-themed high-end hotel that is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. Gallery500, an art gallery in the complex, is owned by France Kennedy and some of her own creations line the walls.

“My sister really has a developer mindset and a process to bringing people together. She has a lot of passion and vision, and she drives these projects and doesn’t really get enough credit for that,” said Brian France, who spent 15 years as NASCAR chairman. “Our family isn’t looking for credit, but they recognize that from a support standpoint, a municipality and a local government, in every market, has to come together to make events as successful as possible.”

France Kennedy hosted the Art of Speed, a luxury car show and art event that benefits the NASCAR Foundation, the night before the Rolex last month. As she walked The Associated Press around the grounds, people stopped her to say hello, told her how much they enjoyed the event and asked about her family.

She got a hug from a restaurant owner who told her she’d just missed her husband by mere minutes. France Kennedy then took the AP to the space next door to Tiano’s Cucina Italiana and explained how the owner was building it into a market as an extension of the eatery.

Why was One Daytona so important to France Kennedy?

“We now have this fabulous entertainment facility directly across from the track that our fans can enjoy,” she told the AP. “Plus, I like fun things to do, too.”

Art of Speed last month set a record by raising more than $50,000 that goes to the NASCAR Foundation, a children’s needs-focused nonprofit that has donated more than $50 million to various causes over the last 20 years.

The family also runs the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award in honor of Bill France Jr.’s late wife, and that award gives annual grants to organizations across the country that support children’s causes.

The Frances have a tower named for them at Halifax Health Center near the speedway and created Speediatrics, a pediatric emergency department that is NASCAR themed.

There’s also a large commitment from the France family to arts and culture in Daytona Beach as a significant donor to the Museum of Arts and Sciences, where the CiCi and Hyatt Brown Museum hosts the largest collection of Florida-based art in the world.

France Kennedy also was instrumental in bringing the Boston Pops and other renowned artists to the Daytona Beach Peabody Auditorium.

Why did they stay in Daytona Beach?

For France Kennedy, it is simple: She grew up on the water and returning to Daytona Beach after graduating from Duke to join the family business was an idea planted in her by her late grandmother, Annie B.

She enjoys leaving her office across from the speedway, being home in 10 minutes, changing into comfy clothes and taking in her water view. Her son, Ben Kennedy, returned to Daytona Beach after graduating from Florida. Now 34 and married, he has chosen the city as his home as he climbs the ranks toward someday taking over NASCAR.

Jim France lives along the Halifax River, his three children remain local and the family quietly blends in with everyone from the longtime residents to the snowbirds. If you don’t know them, you would have no idea you are seated next to a billionaire at Corleone’s Famous New York Pizza and Gyros.

They remain committed to the area, and if possible, many in NASCAR’s top leadership would get the Brickyard Lounge moved into One Daytona to retain access to their beloved cheeseburgers. They remain abreast of the ongoing renovations at Billy’s Tap Room, another racing-themed area institution that has been shuttered for nearly two years, and do their best to bring Florida-based businesses into One Daytona.

“I think it’s home. Why does Warren Buffett live in Omaha, Nebraska?” Brian France said. “Daytona Beach is our home and, of course, we happen to have the biggest event, the Daytona 500, in our hometown. It’s a community that our family remains committed to and rather quite passionate about.”

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