Indy — the Brickyard — carries a weight that few other tracks can match. You don’t just win at Indy. You make history there.
The race had its usual chaos — pit strategies flip-flopping, tempers flaring on the radios, and restarts that had me on the edge of the couch. But as the laps ticked down, there was Bubba Wallace, steadily climbing, keeping his nose clean, making bold but calculated moves. With 10 to go, Bubba had worked his way up to second. With 5 laps left, he made his move. Ducked low on the straight, side-drafted, and stuck it into Turn 1 like he owned that corner. Clean pass. Took the lead. 4 laps to go and then…… the checkered flag.
Watching him get out of the car, fist pumping, face lit up with raw joy — it was electric. You could feel the release, the weight lifted, the pride. And when he dropped to his knees and touched the bricks… man, I had chills. It’s one thing to root for a driver. It’s another to feel their journey. From controversy to courage, from setbacks to triumph — Bubba’s win wasn’t just a race result. It was a moment that mattered. Then came the moment: Bubba kneeling at the yard of bricks, head down, emotional, soaking it in.
Drivers and crews kiss the bricks at the Brickyard as a tradition that honors the deep history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) — one of the most iconic tracks in the world.
Why does the drivers and team kiss the bricks?
The bricks are a symbol of racing history
- When IMS was built in 1909, it was originally paved with 3.2 million bricks to improve safety after dangerous crashes on the original gravel surface.
- Though the track is now asphalt, a yard-wide strip of those original bricks remains exposed at the start/finish line — known as the “Yard of Bricks.”
The “kissing the bricks” ritual began in 1996, when Dale Jarrett and his crew chief Todd Parrott knelt and kissed the bricks after winning the Brickyard 400.
- They did it as a tribute to the speedway’s legacy, borrowing reverence from Indy 500 traditions and creating their own.
- The act caught on — and now, every winning driver and team in NASCAR (and often other series that race at IMS) kiss the bricks after a victory.
Kissing the bricks is more than a celebration. It’s a gesture of respect — for the track, for the legends who raced before, and for the significance of winning at Indy.
- Drivers know that a win at the Brickyard is a career-defining moment. So when you see a team kneel down, helmets off, kissing the rough surface of those 100-year-old bricks — it’s not just tradition, it’s respect!
.
