Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey appoints new board at International Motorsports Hall of Fame after audit finds financial issues

TALLADEGA, Ala. (WIAT) — The International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega has a new board of directors.

The previous board was removed following an audit that revealed more than 30 financial issues. Jerry Creel is one of the vice chairmen among the 18 people appointed to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame board by Gov. Kay Ivey. He says the new board is working to address the 35 issues identified in an audit released last month.

“Everything that’s there is something that we can address one issue at a time, but it’s going to take us time. It will take us time to get everything taken care of, because as you know, a lot of people have read the audit. There is a lot in it,” commented Creel.

The audit says a former employee is accused of misspending $236,000. Creel says that is being investigated by the attorney general’s office.

“As far as the criminal charges, we don’t have any aspect or any or any elements in there. We don’t do anything with it,” commented Creel.

The museum features many old race cars and memorabilia collected from NASCAR and other racing events. Creel says the main focus of the new board is continuing to showcase everything the museum has to offer.

“This is a viable museum, my passion is I love museums. The rest of the board, I mean, there’s people that are passionate about museums, passionate about the raceway, are passionate about this museum. So we have the capabilities on the board to keep this as a very, very sustainable and viable museum right here,” said Creel.    

The attorney general’s office is investigating the findings of the audit. There is no word yet on whether criminal charges will be filed.