Jul. 13--International Speedway Corp.'s business continues to be impacted by the recession, as it reported lower revenue and earnings last week for the second quarter ended May 31. But at least its results were a bit better than expected.

The Daytona Beach-based company, which operates the Daytona International Speedway and 12 other motorsports facilities, reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 35 cents a share. That was down from adjusted earnings of 50 cents a share the previous year, but higher than the average forecast of 31 cents by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Company officials also said that because of a late surge of ticket buying in the weeks leading up to the race, attendance at the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR race at the Daytona track on July 4 was better than expected.

ISC President John Saunders said in a conference call with analysts that the company's advanced ticket sales and revenue are down more than 25 percent this year. But sales in the final month leading up to the Coke Zero 400 were 22 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Saunders said the company is adjusting ticket prices to meet demand in a challenging economic environment.

Not every part of ISC's business is performing better than expected. Its 50 percent stake in merchandising company Motorsports Authentics LLC continues to perform poorly. Because of a write-off related to that investment, ISC actually ended up the second quarter with a final net loss of $31.7 million, or 65 cents a share.

But the company is optimistic about NASCAR's ability to withstand the recession. In the conference call, CEO Lesa France Kennedy said NASCAR has always been "a very nimble sport" that can adjust to the economy.

"We still have 70-plus million fans and it is the No. 1 spectator sport. In addition to that, we have strong demographics that are attractive to our advertisers as well as our TV partners. And contrary to what you might have read, our television ratings are still strong," said Kennedy, whose family founded and owns NASCAR.

ISC's stock opened $1.30 higher at $26.59 on Tuesday morning after the better-than-expected earnings. But the stock gave back those gains and closed Tuesday at $25.39, up just 10 cents on the day.

From one Fidelity to another

Fidelity Investments is not related to Fidelity National Information Services Inc. But according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week, Fidelity Investments is now the largest stockholder of Fidelity National Information Services, or FIS.