Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Power beyond engines

NASCAR and its most famous track carry influence in the whole Daytona community.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 1, 2001

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Ku Klux Klan once threatened to kill him.

So taking Daytona International Speedway and its owners to task didn't scare Dan Warren, who as a state attorney prosecuted the Klan following a 1969 racial crisis in St. Augustine.

But when the royal family of stock car racing tapped its political connections in 1997, a 40-year relationship between Warren and the France family dissolved.

"It was one of those situations where I wasn't going to give in and they got mad about it and decided they would eliminate the thorn in their side," he said. "So they did."

In a city known for two things -- its beach and NASCAR -- there is little room for detractors.

After starting with a gas station in the 1930s, the France family has grown more wealthy and powerful than anyone could have imagined thanks to the speedway it built.

That wealth and power reaches far and wide in Volusia County, from campaign contributions and charitable donations to corporate recruitment and political influence.

But some believe NASCAR's power might be too vast, and the criticism mounted after Dale Earnhardt died Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway.

Warren's falling out with NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. started in 1994 after suggesting the track should pay more in rent to its landlord -- the Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District, a board appointed by the city commission and county council.

Warren, who founded the District in 1953, proposed an increase from $10,000 to $3-million per year. In exchange, the District would give up its rights to use the track 90 days a year.

"Bill Jr. didn't take too kindly to it," he said.

Speedway officials successfully lobbied the city commission for Warren's removal on the grounds they wanted a more diverse five-member board.

"We expressed support for someone else's suggestion that a woman be appointed due to the growing number of women interested in auto racing," John Graham, president of Daytona International Speedway, told the Orlando Sentinel in 1997.

A sweetheart deal

Built on county property for $2.5-million in 1957 by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., the track alone is valued at $27-million.

Its events provide more than $1-billion to the area each year.

France Jr. and his brother Jim, a member of NASCAR's board of directors, are among the world's richest people. Forbes estimated they are each worth $1-billion.

Because of the original lease agreement, signed in 1958, the track pays $10,000 in rent yearly for 447 acres. Property taxes reach into the millions.

"But it's virtually rent free," Warren said.

A portion of that money is granted to public agencies for projects like playgrounds and ballparks.

"The fact you've got that large of an industry that has long and deep connections with just about anybody who is anybody in Daytona Beach makes it very difficult for anyone there to look at issues dispassionately," said attorney Tom Julin, who is representing the Independent Florida Alligator in its bid to gain access to Earnhardt's autopsy photos.

"Whether it's the police department or the medical examiner's office ... or the court, it's very difficult for them to divorce themselves of the fact that they've got this large industry that is there that has had all this influence for all this time."

When asked for comment on the influence of NASCAR and the France family, NASCAR officials deferred to a statement issued to the Times by Graham, who spoke only on the contributions to the community, not the influences.

'They're there helping'

The speedway gives nearly $600,000 in cash to charity each year.

"Our civic and charitable involvement in the Central Florida community is widespread, and we hope and believe it to be beneficial," Graham said in his written statement.

When the city was trying to lure the LPGA's headquarters from Houston and the USTA from Pompano Beach, it called upon speedway officials and members of the France family for help.

"We put together videos and John Graham was on the video saying, 'We want you to come to our town,' " said George Mirabal, president and CEO of the Daytona Beach/Halifax Area Chamber of Commerce.

Both organizations chose Daytona Beach.

"You see the mark of the speedway as you go through year in and year out of just about anything that's happening in a positive way," Mirabal said. "They're there helping."

Other interests

Since Earnhardt died, the work of the Daytona Beach Police Department and the county medical examiner's office has been questioned.

The lead investigator assigned to the case said he was told by a superior not to photograph the crashed car or attend the driver's autopsy as he had done when Rodney Orr and Neil Bonnett died in crashes at the track in 1994. Several attempts by the Times to reach police spokesman Sgt. Al Tolley and investigator Det. Robert Walker for comment last week were unsuccessful.

The speedway donates motorcycles, radios, barricades, food and other supplies to the police department for use during annual events like Bike Week, and hires off-duty officers to work race weekends.

Politically involved

Less visible is the money donated to city and county political campaigns.

During his 1999-2000 campaign, Mayor Bud Asher received $500 checks from Graham, Jim France, France Jr. and Lesa France Kennedy, a member of NASCAR's board of directors.

Four subsidiary companies of International Speedway Corporation have donated similar sums to campaigns for Asher, city commissioners and county council members.

"Although everyone wants them on their (contribution) list, locally they don't throw around big money," said Big John, a member of the Volusia County Council. Representatives from the speedway, ISC and NASCAR sometimes attend county council meetings.

"They usually just go listen," John said. "They almost never say anything."

John did receive a call from France Jr. after contesting the track's proposal to build a pedestrian bridge across International Speedway Boulevard.

France Jr. believed the bridge would spur economic growth and ensure fan safety. His original request for $3-million in state funds was denied by Gov. Jeb Bush in June 1999.

"I said something that was quizzical in the newspaper and I got a call from Bill," John said. "He said, 'You don't like my walkover?' "

Last July, Bush approved a $2-million grant for the bridge. About the same time, Bush's brother was running for president -- and serving as grand marshal of the Pepsi 400. "NASCAR does have a very powerful influence just upon the fact that Volusia County is a good ol' boy community," said Dr. Ronald Reeves, who was hired in 1991 as Volusia's chief medical examiner and suspended in 1998 after a team of medical experts disagreed with his findings that 19 Hospice patients were not given lethal doses of morphine.

"If you know the right people and you have money and or authority then you can get just about anything you want."

Moving on

Warren is writing an autobiography and is preparing to start the chapter about the Daytona Beach Racing and Recreational Facilities District board and his close friendship with France Sr.

"I don't get invited to any more of their parties," Warren said. "One of my friends told me when I first got into politics back in the '50s. He said, 'Everybody's going to be your friend now. Just don't get used to that champagne taste.' And I never did.

"To hell with it. I don't care whether I'm invited or not."

- Staff writer Jeff Testerman and news researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

Pepsi 400

8 p.m. Saturday, Daytona International Speedway.

TV/RADIO: Ch. 8.

TICKETS: 904-253-7223 or www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright