The action on the track is always the main focus at the races, but at any given round there are always plenty of handshakes, face-to-face meetings, and ideas being exchanged behind the scenes. That was true in Las Vegas for the SuperMotocross World Championship Final too, and when we spotted Frank Kelleher, the president of Daytona International Speedway, making the rounds, we knew we couldn’t miss the opportunity to have a casual chat with one of racing’s most important figures.
Racer X: How long have you been the president of Daytona International Speedway, and how’d you end up there in the first place?
Frank Kelleher: Four years and about seven months. My story in motorsports goes back to Northeastern Pennsylvania. I was born and raised in Scranton. My grandfather started a gas station and a service garage, and my dad and his brothers, to this day, still run it. I grew up a garage kid. After school, from the time I was 12 years old, I was in the garage changing tires. When I was of age, I was driving tow trucks and flatbeds. I plowed a lot of snow too. Snow days were fun until I was 16, then I was given the keys to a truck and told to get to work. My uncle raced a dirt modified [car], my cousin raced a winged spring car, and I started racing go karts with the WKA [World Kartin Association] when I was about 15. When I was 21, I won two national championships. Anyway, I had a teammate who worked for International Speedway Corporation down in Daytona Beach. He got me an interview for an internship, and I drove from Scranton down to Daytona in a borrowed Suburban and interviewed for the position. I was fortunate enough to spend the summer of 2002 in ISC’s corporate sales and marketing department. I definitely was outside my depth in this white collar, corporate environment, I was a racer, a blue-collar worker at heart. First guy in, last guy to leave, ask a lot of questions. I left that internship feeling like, “If I can’t make it as a racer, how cool would it be to work within the sport?” In 2003 I graduated from college and ISC was kind enough to have a job waiting for me. Graduated on a Sunday, in the car on Tuesday, marketing coordinator on Thursday. I spent the majority of my career on the corporate side. I was formerly NASCAR’s chief sales officer. Corporate sales, partnership marketing, integrated media. I was living out of a suitcase traveling all over the country, selling the sport of NASCAR.
About four-and-a-half years ago the France family asked me to be the president of Daytona International Speedway. I still have to pinch myself because at the core I’m still that garage kid who raced go karts and rode a Kawasaki trying to keep up with my cousin in the woods. I was a kid who grew up in the pits and sneaking into the garage areas. Going into the infield in Pocono Raceway and sitting on top of a pickup truck because we couldn’t afford tickets for the grandstands. How the hell am I now the president of the World Center of Racing? It’s an honor. It’s not just NASCAR, either. That’s what put it on the map, but the Daytona Supercross is one of my favorite events that we host. I love the grittiness and rawness of it.
Where does the Daytona Supercross rank on the list for you?
Motorcycles are a big deal for the World Center of Racing. We’ll have the Daytona 200 as a points race next year in the [MotoAmerica Superbike Championship]. Motorcycle racing is part of my DNA, it’s a part of the France family, and it’s a part of Daytona International Speedway. Any athlete who shows up for the Daytona Supercross, I believe they want to win that race just as much as they want to win the championship. And when we do the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross, all of those kids just got done watching the race on Saturday night, and now it’s their turn to go race Daytona. The two-wheeled world means a lot to Daytona. And me being here this weekend [at the SMX Final], it’s me showing up for the sport. It’s maintaining relationships and looking to grow. We need to earn the fans’ trust and respect, and we need to put on an amazing show. And for all of the sponsors and people in the paddock, it’s important I’m around for more than just one weekend a year to say hello.
What’s been one of your favorite Daytona memories? Something special to you?
About 13 years ago I had an opportunity to race a WKA sanctioned event at Daytona in the Enduro Series. A laydown go kart where your butt is about an inch off the ground, and you’re hauling over 100 mph on the Rolex Road Course. For me, as a racer at heart, that was just another one of those moments where I’m thinking, “How in the world did I come from Scranton and end up here?” I took the lead on the second lap, but I screwed up in the draft and ended up finishing second overall, but for me, as a racer, that’s a special memory.
You mentioned Ricky Carmichael earlier. He was very successful as a racer at Daytona, and he’s still very much involved with the event these days. What’s it like getting to work with him?
It’s wild. I remember being a fan of Ricky in his career and watching him jump up to the bigger bike. Following his career and how successful it was, then getting the opportunity to meet Ricky the person and get an idea of how much the motorcycle industry, and Daytona, mean to him. I’ve spent time with his mom and dad, I’ve met his kids, he’s a special human being who is selfless. He wants to see things left better than he found them. He wants his fingerprints on helping to elevate the game. That’s a party of his legacy he’s chasing. It’s a blast having the GOAT as our business partner, and helping to design the track. He genuinely wants to rattle these riders and challenge them. He wants that reaction of, “Ricky, what are you doing to us?” It’s fun to be there with him for that, and also the things people don’t get to see. Sunday morning we’re doing a hardcore look at what worked, what didn’t work, and what we need to change and evolve for next year. We truly start working on the next year’s event the day after.
I also get to see Ricky the dad and Ricky the racer out there with all those amateur kids. He feels that accountability to be the superstar he is when he’s out there with all those young kids. He’s very gracious with his time, he goes out of his way to talk to parents, and he holds himself accountable. He wants these riders to leave the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross thinking, “Wow, that was GOAT level! That was something I’ve never experience before in my life!”
Any surprises you can share with us that are coming in 2026?
The Daytona 500 will be Sunday, President’s Day weekend, February 15, and we’ll have one weekend off to catch our breath and lick our wounds, then we’ll get the property ready for Bike Week. February 28, that’s when the gates will drop. My intention is to earn the fans’ respect and trust. I’ve got some things I’m not ready to announce just yet, but we’ve got some ideas. We’re going to run back Club Carmichael, which is an ultra-fun hospitality area that sits right on the floor. Last week it was next to the gate. For those fans who are looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we’re trying to create those things for fans who want to get closer to the action. We’ve got some things up our sleeves, and again, me being out here in Vegas, hopefully I’ll be able to finalize some of these ideas that we’re chasing.
