NASCAR VP Lesa France Kennedy on CBS Sunday Morning

Losing her father and husband within a month of time made 2007 the “toughest year” of her life, NASCAR Vice Chairperson and International Speedway Corporation Chief Executive Officer Lesa France Kennedy tells Michelle Miller in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD to be broadcast May 10, 2015 (9:00 AM ET) on the CBS Television Network.

Kennedy is part of a stock car racing dynasty. She is the granddaughter of NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr., and daughter of Bill France, Jr., who was Vice Chairman of NASCAR when he died after a long illness in 2007. Then, a month later, Kennedy’s husband, Dr. Bruce Kennedy, died in a small plane crash not far from the family’s Florida home.

Kennedy tells Miller that “2007 was the toughest year” of her life, noting her father had been ill for some time.  “But even though it was expected, not easy. Then a month later, unexpected, my husband died in a plane crash. It was a beautiful day and we were going on a trip later that day. I told him not to be late and we laughed. And – it didn’t work out that way. It didn’t work out that way.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Kennedy opens up about rebuilding her life after losing her husband; guiding her son Ben Kennedy’s NASCAR driving career, efforts to broaden the reach of stock car racing in the country, and the future of the International Speedway Corporation’s Daytona International Speedway.

In an additional excerpt at CBSNews.com, Kennedy tells Miller that she got through the tragedy of losing her husband by staying close with her son.

“I think, really, that first year, the most special moments I had were when he and I would learn something new together,” Lesa France Kennedy tells Miller in the excerpt. “And we would look back – and laugh and say, ‘Well, your dad knew how to start the boat and I don’t. So you know, get the manual out.’ And there were – just maybe some things like that that would help bring back the memory and we’d have a lighthearted moment about it. But those were some of the special times that we had.”

Ben Kennedy talks with Miller about his racing career, and growing up in the family business. His mother, he says, had him doing a variety of jobs around Daytona, from parking cars, to cleaning up. “I was on trash patrol,” he says. “I was in the sewage truck that goes through the driver-owner lot.”

Today, however, he’s an upcoming driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, which sets up the possibility of him someday winning at Daytona, the track founded by his great grandfather.

“You couldn’t write it any better than that,” Lesa France Kennedy says. “There’s no doubt about it. That would really carry it into the next generation.”

CBS SUNDAY MORNING is broadcast Sundays (9:00-10:30 AM ET) on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.