International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business was the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International Speedway and in 1999 it merged with Penske Motorsports to become one of the largest motorsports companies in North America.
History
Bill France Racing
International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was founded as Bill France Racing, Inc. (later Daytona International Speedway Corporation) in 1953 and in 1957 the company signed a contract for the use of land on which to build Daytona International Speedway, one of the world's first superspeedways. A decade later, France decided to build another superspeedway, this time on a site near Talladega, Alabama and after its completion Talladega Superspeedway became NASCAR's fastest track. These two tracks were the fastest on the series schedule until the advent of restrictor plates in 1988. In 1968, the company assumed its later name to reflect its more ambitious scope. The following year they partnered with Corning Glass Works to purchase the Watkins Glen International road course in upstate New York. Two years later, ISC incorporated its food service company, Americrown. In 1999, the company continued its push into the country's urban centers when it merged with Penske, who at the time owned four speedways: Nazareth Speedway, North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina, Michigan International Speedway and the newly constructed Auto Club Speedway (which opened as California Speedway). The new company retained the ISC name, with Penske's son Gregory Penske joining the board of directors.
In 2001, ISC would continue its trend towards modern facilities by constructing Kansas Speedway near Kansas City. In 2003, Lesa France Kennedy took over from Jim France the role of president of the company.
Final years and acquisition by NASCAR
When it merged with NASCAR, the company owned 13 active tracks which collectively held 18 of the 36 events on the schedule of the NASCAR Cup Series. In addition to the stock car racing that NASCAR is famous for, ISC tracks also hosted IndyCar Series races, USCC, Grand-Am, IMSA GT and SCCA sports car races, WKA go-kart races and AMA motorcycle races. Besides NASCAR, other stock car series like IROC and ARCA used their tracks.
Prior to 2019, ISC was a separate company from NASCAR, but was also controlled by the France family. About 35% of the stock in ISC was owned by the heirs of NASCAR founder Bill France and the remainder traded on the stock market. Lesa France Kennedy is CEO and Jim France is Chairman.
Former tracks
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-style="background:#cccccc;"
!Track name
!Location
!Length
!Seating
!Year opened
!Year acquired
!Year sold
!Current owner
|-
|Auto Club Speedway
|Fontana, California
|
|68,000
|1997
|1999
|2019
|NASCAR
|-
|Chicagoland Speedway
|Joliet, Illinois
|
|47,000</small>
|}
- Lists the year the company gained a controlling interest (>50%) in the track.
- Nazareth was sold in 2015, the sale was conditional on racing not returning. It has been partially demolished.
- ISC sold North Carolina Speedway to Speedway Motorsports as part of a settlement in the Ferko lawsuit, who subsequently auctioned the track to former racer Andy Hillenburg. The track was later purchased by another group of investors in 2018.
- ISC shut down Pikes Peak International Raceway shortly after purchasing it, with NASCAR moving the track's Busch Series date to Martinsville. In 2008, the track was sold to a private company, Pikes Peak International Raceway, LLC.
- ISC sold Tucson Raceway Park to David Deery, the track's general manager, in 2002.
Past expansion plans
ISC and NASCAR made public their desire to have a presence in areas it sees as having the potential for growth, most notably the Pacific Northwest and New York City.
Pacific Northwest
Marysville
thumb|150px|left|Kitsap County lies across Puget Sound from SeattleIn 2003, ISC began scouting sites in Washington and Oregon for a new track to attract fans from around the Pacific Northwest, eventually settling on a site near Marysville, Washington in Snohomish County, Washington north of Seattle. Although the plan was met with some resistance from residents – particularly those living near the site for the planned speedway – local business owners and other residents were in favor of the plan, believing that the track would be good for the area's economy and would create jobs. Unlike ISC's later proposal in New York, the Marysville proposal would be supported by public funds raised through taxes, in much the same way as other sports venues in the area (KeyArena, Safeco Field, CenturyLink Field). The track would have been publicly owned and leased to ISC. In November 2004, local officials and ISC announced that they could not go through with the deal, saying that the costs for that particular site would be too high.
Bremerton, Washington
After the deal in Marysville fell through, ISC courted another site, this time south of Bremerton National Airport in Bremerton, Washington just across Puget Sound from Seattle. Also like the Marysville proposal, the Bremerton track would be publicly owned and leased to ISC for three races per year.
In March 2007, Washington state representative Larry Seaquist caused a minor controversy when he was quoted as saying, "These people are not the kind of people you would want living next door to you. They'd be the ones with the junky cars in the front yard and would try to slip around the law." The quote was assumed to be an attack on NASCAR fans but Seaquist later claimed that it was directed at ISC.
New York City
On November 30, 2004, the company made no secret of its interest in building a superspeedway in the New York market and was in talks with Staten Island officials about the logistics of constructing a track there.
In 2004, ISC purchased on Staten Island in New York City for the construction of a short track that would hold 80,000 fans and have the New York City skyline as its backdrop. The proposal was met with fierce resistance from many of the island's residents. At a public meeting in April 2006, police had to end the meeting early for fears of rioting and safety concerns. One report had a local councilman being put in a headlock after one particularly provoking speech (though one ISC official called it merely a "hug for the TV cameras"). In December 2006, ISC dropped their pursuit of the project.
Colorado
On February 13, 2007, the company announced that they were looking into building a track in Colorado. The 75,000-seat track would be built on one of two locations in Adams County, just east of Denver. The company would also be looking to use the same type of combination of public and private funds for the race track as in Kansas and Washington.
Antitrust lawsuits
Ferko lawsuit
Francis Ferko, a stockholder in Speedway Motorsports, Inc., sued NASCAR and ISC in 2002 for violating federal antitrust laws and breach of contract for not awarding a second Winston Cup Series date to Texas Motor Speedway, claiming that the second race was "promised" to the SMI track by NASCAR. After an attempt by NASCAR to get the case dismissed, another shareholder, Rusty Vaughn, joined the case as co-plaintiff in 2003. Although NASCAR CEO Brian France initially said he was going to fight the case in the courts, in April 2004 it was announced that the case had been settled out of court with Texas getting the Cup date previously belonging to North Carolina Speedway and, as part of the deal, agreeing to purchase North Carolina—which now had no dates at all—from ISC for $100 million. NASCAR sought to have the case thrown out by arguing that the speedway wasn't trying to end the alleged anticompetitive practices, they were merely trying to benefit from them as well. This motion was denied, however. A motion to move the case from Kentucky to Florida – home of NASCAR and ISC – was also rejected. ISC, for its part, said it shouldn't be involved in the case at all as it conducts no business in the state. Lawyers for Kentucky Speedway contended that the company does business online and is just as responsible for the lack of competition in granting the races as NASCAR is.
Initially, Kentucky had wanted the jury to force NASCAR to grant the speedway a Sprint Cup Series event but in 2007 they changed their demand to instead force the France family to sell either NASCAR or ISC. The track is also demanding that NASCAR develop objective standards for the awarding of their race events and damages of $200 million. In January 2008, the court dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the plaintiffs had failed to make their case. Kentucky Speedway says they will appeal the court's decision.
In 2011, Kentucky Speedway, now owned by SMI, received a date, the Quaker State 400, on the Cup Series schedule, which lasted until 2020.