Sugarlands Distilling Company, ‘The Official Moonshine of NASCAR,’ and officials from Bristol Motor Speedway announced a multi-year partnership Tuesday during a press conference at the iconic speedway that designates Sugarlands Distilling Co. as the “Official Moonshine of Bristol Motor Speedway.”
The Gatlinburg, Tennessee-based distillery is expected to bring a new element to the fan experience at the track that matches the electricity and excitement of The Last Great Colosseum, the Home to Big Events, and even bigger celebrations.
“Moonshine and the sport of racing have a long-standing history with one another, so it’s no surprise that partnering with Bristol Motor Speedway felt authentic to our brand,” said Ned Vickers, president of Sugarlands Distilling Co. While Sugarlands is already the “Official Moonshine of NASCAR,” having the opportunity to team up with an iconic track such as Bristol, which is only 115 miles away from our Tennessee distillery, was an easy strategic partnership to enter into.”
As part of this multi-tiered partnership, fans can look forward to race day activations at both the North and South entrances of the track and at designated locations within the versatile sports and entertainment venue. Once inside, patrons can visit the Sugarlands Shine 360 Bar and choose from a collection of hand-crafted cocktails served in souvenir mason jars. Turn four of the track will be the new home to the Sugarlands Shine Rooftop Bar, where fans can enjoy cocktails from some of the best seats in the house inside the infield. At almost every turn of the track, you can expect to see a familiar Sugarlands logo and friendly faces waiting to serve you some of their award-winning shine.
“Stock car racing and moonshine go hand-in-hand, so I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our roots and kick-off our 60th anniversary season in 2021 than by introducing a special limited-edition corn whiskey with Sugarlands Distilling Co.,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway. “As the official moonshine of NASCAR and now Bristol Motor Speedway, they are going to bring even more energy to the fan experience this coming year and I can’t wait to toast this year’s Food City Dirt Race winner with a Sugarlands’ ‘Dirt Slide’ signature cocktail.”
For the first time in 50 years, NASCAR is putting dirt track racing back on its premier NASCAR Cup Series schedule. This historic event will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 28th, 2021. Sugarlands will launch a limited-edition corn whiskey to celebrate 60 years of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is celebrating its milestone 60th anniversary in 2021. This will be the third release in a series of commemorative corn whiskey products that Sugarlands has launched in support of a new partnership. The tradition-rich spring race will feature the “Dirt Slide,” a signature cocktail created by Sugarlands to pay homage to the dirt track and its return to the roots of racing.
“It’s no secret that Bristol Motor Speedway hosts some of the most passionate and loyal fans in the country,” said Patrick Sullivan, chief sales officer at Sugarlands Distilling Co. “This partnership allows Sugarlands to create an experience for these fans that takes things up a notch. Through our on-site activations, Sugarlands 360 Bar, and other engagement strategies, we will create an environment that emulates that same electricity people feel when they step foot in The Last Great Colosseum.”
Introduced in limited markets in 2014, Sugarlands Distilling Co. has seen rapid expansion across the country and now distributes its award-winning line of spirits in 31 states nationwide. The announcement of Sugarlands’ partnership with the Bristol Motor Speedway is commensurate with the announcement of their recent partnership with the Atlanta Braves and baseball Hall-of-Famer and former Braves player, Chipper Jones.
About Bristol Motor Speedway
Forged amid the scenic mountains of Northeast Tennessee near the Virginia state line, Bristol Motor Speedway is The Last Great Colosseum, a versatile multi-use venue that hosts major auto races, football games, concerts and many other captivating events. The facility features a 0.533-mile concrete oval race track with 28-degree corner banking and 650-feet straightaways that offers racing in several NASCAR touring series, highlighted by two major Cup Series weekends and in 2020 the track also served as host of the prestigious NASCAR All-Star Race. While at the track, fans are offered a unique viewing experience courtesy of Colossus TV, the world’s largest outdoor center-hung four-sided video screen with a 540,000-watt audio system. The adjacent quarter-mile dragstrip, Bristol Dragway, offers more than 50 events annually, including the marquee NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. The Thunder Valley Amphitheatre presented by Ballad Health transforms Bristol Dragway into a premier outdoor concert venue for the world’s greatest music performers. Three football games have kicked-off inside the oval, most notably the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, where border rivals the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech met before an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990. In existence since 1961, Bristol Motor Speedway was purchased in 1996 by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., a publicly traded company that is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com.
About Sugarlands
Sugarlands Distilling Company, located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is a craft-distillery producing award-winning moonshine, rum, cream liqueurs and rye whiskey. Nearly 1 million people visit Sugarlands’ downtown Gatlinburg distillery annually, and over 26,000 visitors have rated the distillery a five-star experience on Trip Advisor ranking it as the ‘#1 Thing to do in Gatlinburg’ as well as the ‘#1 Distillery Experience in the U.S.’
Sugarlands distributes their award-winning line of spirits in 31 states nationwide, and their spirits are available for home delivery via Reserve Bar. Sugarlands hand-crafted cocktails can be sipped on in restaurants, bars and festivals across the country as well as on the Back Porch located at the downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn., distillery.
Since 2018, Sugarlands has entered partnerships with country music superstar Cole Swindell, the Atlanta Braves, and baseball Hall-of-Famer and former Braves player, Chipper Jones. In October 2018, Sugarlands announced its historic partnership with NASCAR as the official moonshine of NASCAR. Sugarlands Shine is also the official moonshine of Talladega Superspeedway, where they are the title partner of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Trucks Series fall race, the Sugarlands Shine 250.
Sugarlands Distilling Co. believes giving back to the community is of the utmost importance. Since 2014, Sugarlands Distilling Company has donated over $675,000 to nonprofits across the country through their giveback program, MoonShare. Each month, Sugarlands sheds light on a different nonprofit organization and helps these organizations positively influence their communities through grants, fundraisers and donations. For more information, please visit www.sugarlands.com
