Kissing the Bricks Tradition

Marcus Ericsson won the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday in a two lap shootout. After celebrating by drinking whole milk, Ericsson eventually went to kiss the three-foot-wide strip of bricks which were original to the track. This is a relatively new tradition. How it started is probably not what you think.
 
A decision by Tony George in 1992, then the CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, led to the treasured tradition of the winning driver and his crew kissing the bricks as part of the victory celebration. 
 
In 1992, NASCAR announced that it would add a new track to their schedule. Tony George began discussions with NASCAR to potentially hold a race at the venerable track. In June 1992 four NASCAR teams showed up at the Speedway to see how their cars handled. This was not a closed test and reportedly 100,000 fans showed up to watch.
 
In August 1994, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway broke with the long-standing tradition of having one race per year when it welcomed NASCAR for the inaugural Brickyard 400.  The race was won by Jeff Gordon but there was no special celebration. Ditto with the 1995 race which was won by Dale Earnhart.
 
After the third running of the Brickyard 400 in August 1996, Dale Jarrett’s crew chief, Todd Parrott, told Jarrett that he wanted to kiss the brick. After celebrating in Victory Lane, Parrott and Jarrett walked down to the three feet of bricks at the start/finish line, turned their caps around, knelt down and kissed the bricks. When asked why, Parrott simply said, “We just wanna kiss the bricks” as a tribute to the Speedway. Jarrett later commented that the bricks didn’t taste too good.
 
Part of Ricky Rudd’s celebration after winning the 1997 Brickyard 400 included his team kissing the bricks. Ditto with Jeff Gordon and his team in 1998. They were joined by their teams and the tradition was born.
 
It wasn’t until the 2003 Indianapolis 500 when the NASCAR tradition was adopted by IndyCar drivers. Gil De Ferran beat his Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves in his bid to win his third consecutive Indianapolis 500. While Castroneves is known to celebrate winning by climbing the fence, De Ferran explained that suddenly the thought to kiss the bricks came into his mind.  After kissing the bricks, de Ferran grabbed Castroneves and they climbed the fence.  Today, a winner of any race run at the Speedway can kiss the bricks.
 
The Indianapolis Press Club Foundation annually holds a “last row party” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The last row of starters for the Indianapolis 500 are in attendance and mix with the attendees. For a while, those in attendance could kiss the last row of bricks. This tradition ended after the 2011 Indianapolis 500. If you want to kiss the bricks, go on a bus tour of the Speedway. You can get off the bus and kiss the bricks as part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum offerings.
 
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