A state audit of the Motor Sports Hall of Fame Commission found that more than $200,000 was improperly spent and cited 35 violations of Alabama laws and regulations.

The report by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts covered a five-year period that ended Sept. 30, 2024.

Chief Examiner Rachel Riddle ordered the commission’s former account manager to to repay $236,610 in commission funds.

The audit report, released Friday, said the money has not been repaid and that the matter is being reported to the Alabama attorney general.

Also on Friday, the examiners released a report that Greene County Sheriff Jonathan Benison spent $5 million from the county’s bingo fund for unauthorized purposes and has been ordered to repay the money.

The Motor Sports Hall of Fame Commission has a seven-member executive committee and an executive director to oversee the day-to-day operations of the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame, which includes a museum near the Talladega Superspeedway.

Former state Sen. Gerald Dial of Lineville, who is chairman of the commission, said it was his decision to hire the accounts manager who was cited in the audit. Dial said she was recommended to him but said the hire turned out to be a bad decision.

The audit report says the commission failed to follow standards for safeguarding its funds, allowing a single employee to control both the money coming in and going out.

The lack of an independent review led to expenditures for unauthorized purposes or without documentation, including:

• $74,751 to creditors not related to the commission.
• $40,053 to the former account manager’s family.
• $24,768 to vendors and individuals.
• $22,525 in checks written to cash or withdrawn.
• $16,697 in checks written to the former account manager.
• $12,714 to retail stores.
• $5,428 for personal power bills.

The report said the former accounts manager overpaid herself by $26,240.

It said there were missing funds – $13,370 in cash received from museum tours and gift shop sales that was not deposited.

The examiners found the commission sold four donated vehicles at a collector car auction, including three pace cars, without following the procedures required by state law.

The report says the commission sold a a 1968 Camaro convertible pace car for $15,000 in April 2023 to the commission’s then-executive director after spending about $23,000 in commission funds on repairs to the vehicle.

Dial said the former executive director will return the vehicle to the commission and will repay him what he paid for it.