Pictured (L-R): Mark Borchetta, Tony Kanaan, Scott Borchetta and Jade Buford
Photos Courtesy of Big Machine Label Group
NASHVILLE, TN (June 30, 2020) – After observing fellow Nashvillian Jade Buford’s skill as a race driver and race coach, Big Machine Label Group President/CEO and Big Machine Vodka owner Scott Borchetta sent word to Buford that he’d been signed on to make his NASCAR Xfinity debut in the Big Machine Vodka & Hand Sanitizer Camaro in the SS Green Light Racing #07, starting at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The three-race agreement will cover all of this year’s Xfinity road course races which also include Watkins Glen and the ‘Roval’ at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Buford will make his first start on July 4th at the Pennzoil 150 on the road course race at Indy.
“Receiving this news was quite the eye-opener for me,” says Buford. “I’ve been craving an opportunity for years to have a shot at a NASCAR Road course race. They are my favorite races to watch and it is still surreal to be getting the chance to join in on the fun in the big show.”
Jade has shown his talents across several road racing series over the past decade and has racked up wins all over the continent including at such iconic tracks as Watkins Glen, Sebring, Barber Motorsports Park, Lime Rock and COTA. He also set a record for qualifying with the most pole positions in one season– six out of nine races — in the 2013 Michelin Pilot Challenge Series.
Borchetta is also no slouch in a car, as evidenced by his two SVRA 2019 National Championships in Group 6 & Group 10. The veteran racer’s pedigree includes achieving a three-peat Championship run in the NASCAR Weekly Series in the Super Truck Division at America’s oldest asphalt oval, the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville (’03-’05). Always a circle track driver until joining the SVRA, he’s now becoming quite adept at turning right and will also make some Trans Am 2 starts in 2020.
Borchetta and Buford first linked up at Sebring earlier this year, winning the SVRA Sebring Vintage Classic Endurance Race together in Borchetta’s 1969 Corvette. They have continued to work together this year as driver/coach/co-driver and Borchetta continues to be impressed by the younger driver’s uncanny abilities and feels he’s ready for a bigger opportunity.
“Jade is a great racer who has truly earned a shot in NASCAR’s Xfinity series,” says Borchetta. “He is a master of his craft and has an incredible understanding of how to go fast. If some breaks come his way at Indy, don’t be surprised to see him running up front.”
The Pennzoil 150 is part of an historic three-race weekend at the famed Speedway as it marks the first-ever NASCAR-INDYCAR triple-header. The marquee holiday event will be the first time the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will share the same track on the same event weekend. The GMR Grand Prix for the NTT INDYCAR Series and Pennzoil 150 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series are scheduled for Saturday, July 4, while the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 at The Brickyard Powered by Big Machine Records for the NASCAR CUP Series is scheduled for Sunday, July 5. All three races will also air live on NBC.
