Headline Surfer® graphic / Daytona International Speedway sent HeadlineSurfer.com an 11th-hour media credential rejection with generic verbiage to justify the rejection, even though the internet newspaper has covered the races at the the Speedway for its nearly-seven year existence and is the only media outlet to win journalism awards for its coverage of Speedway-related events in that time frame. The real reason for the denial of media credentials is payback for exposing the extensive campaign contributions Speedway execs like Lesa France Kennedy, Mori Hosseini and J. Hyatt Brown, have provided to politicians seeking re-election in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, in exchange for taxpayer-supported funding for its big projects.
By HENRY FREDERICKThe credential denial was not a surprise, considering how vindictive and petty the organization is that is owned by International Speedway Corp., the private corporation owned by the France Family, headed up by Lesa France Kennedy, that also has a controlling interest in the publicly-traded commissioner'a office of the sport -- NASCAR.
So you can guess what NASCAR's response was when the internet newspaper complained: Yes, that's right. You could hear the crickets chirping.
This is the incestuous relationship that has the France Family maintaining its rankings among the billionaires list on Forbes with a family net worth of $5 billion.
It's a repeat of the heat-seeking missiles launched on HeadlineSurfer.com on Friday the 13th of June in a terse phone call from then-spokesman Lenny Santiago for our daring report last Spring that DIS, and its parent company, International Speedway Corp., had lined the election campaign pockets of key politicians at the city, county and state level to the tune of $250,000.
And in exchange, the billionaire France family were hoping for far greater riches in return. Try upwards of $250 million-plus from the taxpayers via politicians whose campaign coffers were fattened for re-election.
State Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, was among the loudest supporters of DIS, and why not, considering she received $28,000 towards her re-election campaign in 2014. Imagine something like this happening in Major League Baseball, the NFL or the NBA. No way, Jose. But NASCAR is a joke of an organization headed by Lesa France Kennedy's kid brother, Brian France. His biggest claim to fame is coming up with the gimmick known as "The Chase," which propelled a novice named Jimmie Johnson to Herculean status with six cup championships, though nobody would seriously put him in the same sentence with Earnhardt, Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, Allison or Waltrip.
HeadlineSurfer.com tweets at left highlight State Sen. Dorothy Hukill's dirty little secrets: Extensive campaign funds from Daytona International Speedway and her subsequent push for approval of taxpayer-supported incentives for Speedway projects.
Hukill, R-Port Orange, was among the loudest supporters of DIS, and why not, considering she received $28,000 towards her re-election campaign in 2014.Imagine something like this happening in Major League Baseball, the NFL or the NBA. No way, Jose. But NASCAR is a joke of an organization headed by Lesa France Kennedy's kid brother, Brian France. His biggest claim to fame is coming up with the gimmick known as "The Chase," which propelled a novice named Jimmie Johnson to Herculean status with six cup championships, though nobody would seriously put him in the same sentence with Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison or Darrell Waltrip.
The smack down on HeadlineSurfer.com by DIS (and ISC & NASCAR) is in retaliation for reporting last Spring on the Frances and their proxies (including but not limited to Mori Hosseini Kargar of ICI Homes, J. Hyatt Brown of Brown & Brown Insurance), Brown & Brown's Charlie Lydecker, former Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey, former foreign ambassador Stanley Tuemler Escudero, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University President John Johnson, Daytona Beach Kennel Club's Dan Francati and others.
For it was France Kennedy herself who babysat the Daytona Beach City Commission and the Volusia County Council a year ago in getting unanimous "yes" votes of $20 each in taxpayer funds for the Speedway's pet project across the street, One Daytona, the mega-retail village.
And you couldn't have that big ticket item across from the Daytona Rising (vertically-higher erector set grandstand with new skin and escalators) without having a second walkway bridge to link them. But walkway bridges are expensive and Daytona hasn't had a fatality in front of the Speedway in decades, if ever. But four years ago, two schoolchildren were killed a more than a dozen others were injured after being struck by passing motrorists in West Volusia walking or biking to school on crumbling or non-existent sidewalks.
So, wah-lah. Throw in the carnage on a wider Florida DOT map and who is going to know the difference any way? And thus, $19.4 million in a DOT grant for the walkway bridge.
Finally, the bigger news than the Rolex 24 itself was the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity's green lighting of the Speedway's applications for $90 million in state sales-tax incentives, which must be approved by the Florida Legislature in the Spring. As if that's not going to happen with $100,000-plus in campaign contributions from the Frances and their proxies to the likes of Hukill in the amount of $28,000.
Headline Surfer photo / ^Lesa France Kennedy is shown in the Volusiua County Council chambers awaiting a vote by the elected politicians a year ago to provide $20 million in funding for the Speedway's One Daytona project. The vote was unimous. Here are the Volusia County state delegation politicians beholden to Lesa France Kennedy and her two main home boys -- Moretza "Mori" Hosseini Kargar and J. Hyatt Brown, who serve with her on the ISC board for the generosity of tens of thousands in campaign contributions: The aforementioned State Sen. Dorothy Hukill (R-Port Orange), State Sen. David Simmons (R-Winter Park); State Rep. David Santiago, R-Deltona; State Rep. Dwayne Taylor (D-Daytona Beach) and State Rep. Fred Costello (R-Ormond Beach).
These legislators will be called upon to do their due diligence and rally support for the $90 million in taxpayer subsidies, extracting millions from the backs of the taxpayers for the billionaires who shelled out the thousands for their campaigns.
It doesn't end there.
Here's the lineup of taxpayer money at the municipal level. Only Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry hadn't received Speedway campaign money and that's because Lesa France Kennedy, Mori Hosseini, J. Hyatt Brown, et al, loaded up the campaign account of his opponent, Edith Shelley.
Henry won that 2012 election with 55% of the vote despite the Speedway support lavished on Shelley. But the six commissioners who received Speedway campaign monies in the 2012 and 2014 election cycle were Rob Gilliland, Paula Reed and Carl Lentz, IV (he lost to Ruth Trager in 2014 elections, eve with Speedway support due mainly to trespass warning from strip club), Pam Woods, Kelly White and Patrick Henry. The Daytona Beach City Commission last Spring voted unanimously to shell out $20 million in taxpayer monies to the Speedway for One Daytona.
Here's the line-up of taxpayer money at the county level: Only County Chair Jason Davis hasn't received anything from the Speedway in his 2012 campaign. Funding went to his 2012 general election opponent, Carl Persis. Regardless, Davis won with 55.6% of the votes.
But the other six council members financed by the Speedway in either 2012 or 2014 were Pat Patterson of DeLand, Joshua Wagner of Daytona Beach, Joyce Cusack of DeLand, Deb Denys of New Smyrna Beach, Doug Daniels of Ormond Beach and Pat Northey of Deltona.
The Volusia County Council last Spring voted unanimously to shell out $20 million in taxpayer monies to the Speedway for One Daytona. And because Headline Surfer® is the only media outlet with the courage to report the news (while others like the Daytona Bech News-Journal are all too happy to accept Speedway money and remain silent), the internet newspaper is blackballed. But Headline Surfer® covered the Rolex 24 any way.
The only difference is those media allowed access to the media center had press releases handed to them personally and got to stuff their faces for free on catered food and soft drinks while listening to drivers speak about their trials and tribulations on the track. Headline Surfer® simply searched the racing sites fir the press release quotes and lap by lap happenings as well as referring to the archived videos of the drivers for the same feedback.
Headline Surfer® understands how the game is played and will apply again for Speedweeks, knowing full well the Speedway will deny, deny, deny.
All of this just makes for more negative headlines in the search engines for the France Family, defeating its attempt to silence in the first place. But then again, these are the same yahoos who came up with The Chase. No wonder Jeff Gordon is packing it in at season's end.