What do you do when one of the loudest and most chaotic racing series makes its annual trip to your local circuit? You pick up your country hat and get down to American SpeedFest for a weekend of everything USA.
American SpeedFest, now in its 13th edition, is one of Brands Hatch’s headline events. A weekend full of American Food, American Music and most importantly American Cars. Headlined by the European Nascar Series the weekend is packed with action both on and off the track.
Upon arrival at the circuit I was greeted by a magnificent display of American motors, old and new alike, from Pontiac Firebirds and Corvette C1s of the past to the Ford Mustangs and Dodge Chargers of today. Amongst these sit replica movie stars such as Bumblebee from Transformers and Lightning McQueen from Pixar’s Cars.
A quick walk through the vast display but we’ll come back to that later, for now it’s time for the Pit Walk. A free extra that allows fans to get up close with the cars and meet the Drivers that tame these beasts.
One of my personal favorite parts of any visit to Brands Hatch is the open paddocks, both the main and support paddocks are free to wander and with the extensive lineup of motor racing over the weekend it’s almost impossible to get bored of it. Everything is on show from the mighty minis of the legends, the thunderous V8s of the Ford vs Mustang series.
At the bottom of the support paddock is where we find our first piece of action for the day. Brands like to pack out their days with as much they possibly can, so alongside a full race day is the action arena, hosting shows full of thrills. Today’s action included drifting demos, bike stunts and my personal favorite, Monster Trucks. Something about monster trucks takes me back to my childhood so I never turn down the opportunity to see one in action.
Back to the track and it was fine for my first race action of the day, The UK Legends Championship. These 1250cc engined ⅝ scale cars always produce chaotic and exciting racing and Brands supplies plenty of viewing spots to catch it all. Whether it’s up at Druids or at clearways, the final corner, there’s always a perfect view of the action. Following the legends was both the Speedfest Silhouettes and the Ford Vs Chevy Race both also supplied exciting races for the 45,000 strong crowd.
Another exciting add on is the Pre Race Grid Walk, again free but barely advertised and had to be booked in advance. I was fortunate to manage to get on it. The grid is absolutely packed but the drivers make sure they get round to greeting as many fans as possible, a nice touch seeing as I personally find most Grid Walks these days are many corporate affairs.
Onto the main event, Euro NASCAR V8GP and it’s clear Speedfest have done their best to make the event as authentic as possible, the American National Anthem is played across the tracks loudspeakers before some of the most famous words in Motorsport are spoken.
“DRIVERS, START YOUR ENGINES” suddenly Brands thundered into life as 22 5.7ltr V8s fired up, the ground literally rumbling beneath them. The race itself was fairly tame by NASCAR standards, a bit of door banging but nothing crazy, ending with Paul Jouffreau taking the win after Gianmarco Ericoli’s car ground to a halt on the final lap.
After the race I was feeling quite peckish so I headed back through the Car displays, occasionally stopping in awe at some of the incredible machinery on display, before wandering to the food and entertainment zone.
Greeted by the Wonderful smell of Barbeque and the equally wonderful sounds of country music. Selections of hotdogs and burgers and fried chicken all available for fans to enjoy. Opting for the Smokehouse BBQ stand, impressively built out of an Old Firetruck I was amazed by the quality of food, a beautiful BBQ burger complete with pulled pork and homemade slaw.
After dinner I decided to check out the music stage, alongside sampling the available ciders, and was treated to The Dolly Parton Experience. Admittedly a brilliant tribute and pulled a rather sizable crowd, families danced and sang along, whilst the sound of the legends being back on track pulled me back to the real reason I was there, racing.
Back to the track action and although it was 4:30 pm we still had three races left, a testament to the events attempt at keeping fans engaged.
The legends and pickup trucks provided more action packed racing before it’s time to get back to the V8 action with the Euro NASCAR Open series. The Open series is similar to the US’ Xfinity series allowing drivers to get their grips before making the step up to the top level. Again another fairly tamed race by NASCAR standards this time it would be Martin Doubek on the top step.
With the Nascar conclusion my time at Speedfest came to an end, although I only attended the Sunday I can only imagine the Saturday was just as exciting and with a fairly decent price of £60 for the full weekend or £36 for just the Sunday (prices are cheaper if you book online) it’s definitely a brilliant weekend for the entire family. An action packed day both on and off the track there’s something at Speedfest for all ages. Racecars, Music, and food what more could a person need?
