Column: Kennedy takes bold risks with NASCAR family business

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ben Kennedy may someday be the head of NASCAR. It was Kennedy who devised the idea to take NASCAR’s unofficial season-opening exhibition race to Los Angeles, where the iconic Coliseum is transformed into a temporary short track for a stock car race. “We knew as much as we possibly could, but we didn’t know what the race was going to be like until we put cars on a temporary circuit inside a football stadium.” Kennedy has a dream list of places he’d like to take NASCAR. “I think it’s it’s on us, NASCAR, to make it so that when the fans come out, or they tune in on TV, that this year is just as good, if not better than what it was last year.” Kennedy didn’t exactly need to prove himself to NASCAR’s Board of Directors, but after pulling off the Clash plans rapidly moved forward on staging a Cup Series race on the streets of downtown Chicago. “I would say a lot of the Chicago conversations really started picking up steam after the Clash,” said Kennedy, dismissing speculation that the race will fall through and noting excellent relationships with the mayor’s office and other city agencies.