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 »  Home  »  2006 C&L Award
2006 C&L Award

District 12 Toastmasters
proudly presents the 2005-2006 C&L Award Recipient

to be presented at the 2006 Spring Conference

Gillian Zucker

Gillian Zucker


Gillian Zucker was named the fourth President of California Speedway on June 23, 2005, making her the first female president of a track hosting a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event in the country.  The Southern California oval, located halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, annually hosts two NASCAR NEXEL Cup Series races, the largest single-day ticketed sporting events in the state, with more than 100,000 people in attendance.  The track also promotes racing from NASCAR’s other top series, including the Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series and the Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series, the AMA Superbike Championship competes on a specially designed road course and the Southern California Historic Sports Car Festival round out the annual California Speedway schedule.

Zucker oversees one of the busiest motorsports facilities in the country with more than 300 days of activity at the facility, including numerous movie and commercial shoots, photo shoots, new car testing, club racing and a variety of racing schools.  The economic impact of California Speedway is $220 million to the local economy.  She directs a staff of 50 full-time employees all dedicated to making California Speedway an integral part of the Southern California sports and entertainment landscape.

Within her first year at the Speedway, Zucker has unveiled a rebranding strategy to bring more of the Southern California culture into the motorsports facility with a new logo and advertising campaign; the use of Gameday Management Group to oversee the traffic and parking management on the NASCAR weekends; and plans to nearly double the Speedway’s Midway with shade, grass and water features as well as an outdoor café with cuisine by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.  Zucker also announced the relocation of the quarter-mile dragstrip to the north side of the facility and was instrumental in a five-year entitlement of the strip as the Auto Club Dragway at California Speedway.

Prior to her appointment at California Speedway, Zucker served as Daytona International Speedway's vice president of business operations and development.  In this role, Zucker directed DAYTONA USA operations as well as interacted with sanctioning bodies, broadcast partners, sponsors and vendors and coordinated the track budget.  Her responsibilities further included event operations such as traffic, parking and guest amenities.  In this role, she additionally assumed corporate responsibilities with Daytona’s parent company International Speedway Corporation in new business development across all twelve ISC facilities, specifically applying her operations background to explore strategic opportunities with the music, action sports, travel and entertainment industries.  During her tenure at Daytona International Speedway, she managed most aspects of business operations including ticketing, gate operations, sponsorship sales and services as well as corporate hospitality.

Zucker joined International Speedway Corporation in 1998 as director of business development for the new Kansas Speedway. She was promoted to vice president of operational development soon after.  Among her duties at the track, Zucker wrote and executed the business plan that launched Kansas Speedway. She established the track’s ticket sales and pricing, marketing and public relations efforts and hired and trained the track’s directors.  Later, her responsibilities expanded to include work at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., in an advisory position, while also launching that track’s start up efforts.

An active community leader, Zucker served on the Kansas City, Kansas Chamber of Commerce board of directors, the Boys and Girls Club of Wyandotte County Advisory Board and was active in fundraising for the Kansas City Zoo.   In Daytona Beach, she served on the City of Daytona Beach’s Economic Development Advisory Board, as a trustee of the Museum of Arts and Sciences and as a member of Rotary. Since taking the helm of the Southern California motorsports facility, Zucker has become an active board member of the Los Angeles Sports Council, appointed by the Governor as commissioner of the California Travel and Tourism Commission, was named Woman of the Year for the State of California 63rd District and was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners (Inland Empire chapter) with the Pioneer Award.

Prior to her work at Kansas and Chicagoland Speedways, Zucker worked for the Durham Bulls Baseball Club in Durham, N.C., as assistant general manager.   With the club, she oversaw public and media relations, stadium operations and administration, ticket sales and promotions.  Prior to working with the Bulls, Zucker served as general manager for the Sultans of Springfield Baseball Club in Springfield, Ill., and the Lansing Lugnuts Baseball Club of Lansing, Mich. She has also served as assistant general manager for the High Desert Mavericks Baseball Club in Adelanto, Calif., and as an advertising sales assistant at Sports Illustrated magazine.

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