Photos for Headline Surfer / Ben Kennedy, shown from his racing days and more recently off the tracks, is among four promoted to VP slots with NASCAR. Shown in the smaller pics are John Martin (top), Patrick Rogers (middle) and Chris Schwarts (bottom).
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Ben Kennedy, a former driver in NASCAR's truck series, who won a race and escaped serious injury in a crash, is following his far-more famous France Family menmbers up the corporate ladder as one of the racing giant's four new vice presidents.
Kennedy, son of Lesa France Kennedy, the vice chair of NASCAR, has been promoted to vice president of NASCAR Racing Development.
The other three newly-promoted VPs are:
• John Martin to vice president of NASCAR Event Technology;
• Patrick Rogers to vice president of NASCAR Marketing Services;
• Chris Schwartz to vice president, of NASCAR Media Properties.
Kennedy will oversee strategic racing development initiatives for each of NASCAR’s series, including development of future national series’ schedules and international expansion.
Having competed in both the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, as well as previously serving as general manager of the Truck Series, Kennedy will play a key role in working with NASCAR senior leadership to develop long term racing development strategies.
Kennedy will remain based in Concord, NC and will continue to report to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR's executive vice president and chief racing development officer.
O'Donnell had nothing but praise for Kennedy, citing his prior on-track experiences as key to his new duties.
“Ben is a true racer at heart and has a tremendous understanding of what contributes to a strong race from a driver and a fan’s perspective,” O’Donnel stressed. “His love of motorsports and his commitment to delivering great racing for our fans comes through in everything he does. The sport is fortunate to have a rising leader like Ben and I look forward to his future leadership in this important area.”
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR's executive vice president and chief racing development officer, had nothing but praise for Ben Kennedy, citing his prior on-track experiences as key to his new duties.
“Ben is a true racer at heart and has a tremendous understanding of what contributes to a strong race from a driver and a fan’s perspective,” O’Donnel stressed. “His love of motorsports and his commitment to delivering great racing for our fans comes through in everything he does. The sport is fortunate to have a rising leader like Ben and I look forward to his future leadership in this important area.”
Martin will oversee all technology related to the fan and industry at-track experience and across NASCAR’s media platforms and products, having previously served in a variety of leadership roles across NASCAR Productions and NASCAR Digital and for being instrumental in the initial roll-out of NASCAR.com.
Martin will remain based in Charlotte and will report to Craig Neeb, NASCAR's executive vice president and chief innovation officer.
“John brings extensive experience and passion to this position,” Neeb said of Martin. “His spirit of innovation, coupled with his success working across the industry and driving collaboration and partnership, makes him an ideal fit to lead this group into the future.”
Rogers will oversee all marketing services across teams, drivers and tracks, serving as the main point of leadership with industry stakeholders in implementing NASCAR’s integrated marketing strategy and maximizing the potential impact of all industry assets.
Rogers has led the sanctioning body’s collaborative marketing work with race teams and drivers and is expected to take that work to another level with his new, broader duties.
Rogers will remain based in Charlotte and will continue to report to Pete Jung, NASCAR's senior vice president for marketing.
“Patrick has developed strong relationships throughout the garage and has a track record of success in developing marketing opportunities for our drivers, teams and tracks that deliver for our fans,” Jung said of Rogers.
“His leadership in bringing the industry together cannot be overstated and I am excited about the impact he and his team will have as we seek new and innovative ways in bringing our fans closer to our drivers, teams and racetracks.”
In his new elevated role, Schwartz will continue to lead MRN and Racing Electronics and work closely with NASCAR’s media functions to integrate that technology across NASCAR media platforms.
His focus will be working with NASCAR’s media partners and senior leadership to build upon strategies to distribute live audio content and dynamic in-venue technology to race fans, both at-home and at the track.
Schwartz will be based in Charlotte and will report to Brian Herbst, NASCAR's senior vice president for media and productions.
“Chris is a seasoned industry executive that understands the opportunities that exist for our sport and our fans as we develop engaging media platforms and content across our industry,” Herbst said of Schwartz.
“He has a proven track record in developing strong, innovative media partnerships with multiple stakeholders that will position our sport well as the media landscape evolves.”
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