NASCAR Suffers Another Aviation Loss

The NASCAR family spends a tremendous amount of time in airplanes, and sadly, every now and then plane crashes have taken important members of the NASCAR community. It happened again today:

SANFORD, Fla. -- Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. president Lesa France Kennedy, died Tuesday when the plane he was piloting crashed.

At least four other persons were killed, including two children, Sanford Fire Chief Gerard Ransom confirmed. The identities of the dead were not released but NASCAR confirmed the identity of the Daytona Beach plastic surgeon.

Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications, released the following statement:

"This morning, at approximately 8:40 a.m. Eastern Time, a Cessna 310 registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau, Inc. of Daytona Beach, crashed in a Sanford, Florida, area neighborhood. At this time, we can confirm there were two people on-board, including the pilot, Dr. Bruce Kennedy and Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation. Both were killed in the crash.

"Dr. Kennedy was the husband of NASCAR Board Member and ISC President Lesa France Kennedy.

A couple of years ago 10 members of Hendrick Motorsports were killed in a crash near Martinsville, VA, and back in 1993 two top NASCAR drivers, reigning champion Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison were killed in separate aircraft accidents.

Just five weeks ago Lesa France Kennedy's father, Bill France Jr., passed away after a battle with cancer. Our prayers go out to the France family and all those in the NASCAR community.