Brantley Gilbert Blown Away at NASCAR Race Named for Him

Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400
(Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway/BMLG)

This Sunday (7/23) is the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Brantley is pretty much blown away at having his name on the NASCAR race.

Brantley admits that having a major NASCAR race that bears his own name is pretty surreal, “Yeah it’s pretty nuts, right? We know a fella named Scott Borchetta that can pull some crazy things off.”

Brantley is an artist on the roster of the Big Machine Label Group (BMLG). The president/CEO of BMLG is Scott Borchetta. Scott is a major name in the music industry and also has ties to racing.

Brantley explains what happened when he found out that the race would include his name. “I mean, hell, I’d have been happy with tickets, but he put some ideas together and said he was gonna work on some stuff,” he shares.

“I figured we’d may be able to play a song or attend a race like we have in the past,” Brantley confesses.

However, when Scott shared the news about the name of the race, well, “He came back with this and I was just blown away,” Brantley admits.

Brantley has a family connection to the state the race is in, the Brickyard 400 and NASCAR in general. “My mom’s side of the family’s from Indiana,” Brantley shares, “and my grandfather just loved NASCAR and loved the Brickyard and so this one, in my heart, is kind of for him.”

Brantley will perform for the fans in attendance as part of the pre-race celebrations at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He will then get to hang around and find out which NASCAR driver gets the trophy with his name on it and gets to kiss the yard of bricks at the start/finish line of the track.

Tickets to the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 are still available at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway website here.

By: Buck Stevens