The Challenge:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is built on tradition.
For the Brickyard 400, IMS wanted to celebrate a tradition that’s uniquely tied to that race: kissing the bricks. While it’s often associated with IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500, kissing the bricks actually started at the Brickyard 400. In 1996, NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett celebrated his win by kissing the historic bricks at the start-finish line in what’s become a tradition for all events held at IMS.
So thirty years after that first iconic smooch, IMS wanted to bring a literal piece of that tradition to their partners and past Brickyard 400 champions – a custom brick with the 2026 Brickyard 400 logo.
But how to deliver the bricks? Enter PPG, a global leader in paints, coatings and specialty materials – the presenting sponsor of the Brickyard 400 and the official paint and finishing supplier for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Turns out their standard gallon paint can fits a brick pretty perfectly…
The Solution:
With the vessel figured out, it was time to make the paint can feel a little more Brickyard. The IMS creative and marketing team designed a custom label inspired by a classic paint can, complete with red, white, and blue color codes on top.
Tactive took care of the rest. We printed the labels and contents, sourced a custom paint can opener featuring IMS’s iconic wing and wheel logo, and assembled each kit by hand. Which, for our fearless assembly team, meant adding one more very specific skill to their repertoire: hammering paint cans shut.
Inside, each can held a one-of-a-kind logoed brick, nestled into red, white, and blue krinkle paper. The patriotic filler tied back to the 2026 race theme of “United We Race” – plus, it kept the brick snug and prevented it from rattling around inside the can.
And because recipients needed a way to get to the good stuff, each can came with its own branded paint can opener. Open the can, pull out the packing material, and there it was: a brick-sized reminder of one of racing’s biggest traditions. Pucker up.
