There are quieter ways to spend a weekend.

American SpeedFest is not interested in them.

Every summer, Brands Hatch hands itself over to NASCAR, American cars, pickups, smoke, noise and an increasingly large crowd of people who think all of that sounds like an excellent idea.

They are probably right.

THIS ISN’T NASCAR-ISH. IT’S NASCAR.

The headline act is the NASCAR Euro Series, the official NASCAR-sanctioned championship outside North America.

The cars race on the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, which is about as far from a giant American oval as you can get.

Paddock Hill Bend drops away sharply. Druids climbs back up. The whole place wraps around itself like a natural amphitheatre.

Which means NASCAR ends up doing something very British:

going round Brands Hatch properly.

SpeedFest has been bringing the series here since 2013, and the circuit’s agreement keeps Brands Hatch as the UK home of NASCAR until at least 2028.

THEN THE PICKUPS TURN UP

NASCAR would probably be enough.

It is not enough.

The programme also brings in purpose-built racing pickups, muscle cars, Legends cars and the sort of Ford-versus-Chevy rivalry that crossed the Atlantic without losing any enthusiasm.

Then there are the demonstration cars.

Old Chevrolets. Modern Mustangs. Silverados. Corvettes. Stock cars from different eras.

Some are immaculate.

Some look as though they would quite like to frighten the pit wall.

And many of them get driven.

This is not a museum where somebody politely asks you not to touch the rope.

THE CAR PARK IS PART OF THE SHOW

One of SpeedFest’s best tricks is that the spectator cars become part of the event.

Hundreds of privately owned American cars fill the grounds: hot rods, muscle cars, pickups, classics, modern V8s and the odd thing you may struggle to identify without opening another browser tab.

It means you can walk away from the racing and straight into another show.

The difference is that this one has number plates and somebody nearby who almost certainly knows exactly how much fuel it uses.

Do not ask unless you have time.

AND YES, THERE’S COUNTRY MUSIC

Then somebody looked at all this and decided what Brands Hatch really needed was a Country stage.

Correct.

SpeedFest Country joined the weekend in 2023 and has since brought British Country artists including Twinnie, Harleymoon Kemp, Robbie Cavanagh and others into the middle of the motorsport.

There is line dancing too.

So the same ticket can now take you from V8 stock cars, to racing pickups, to barbecue, to live Country music.

That is a fairly efficient Saturday.

42,000 PEOPLE CAN’T ALL BE LOST

More than 42,000 people attended across the 2026 weekend.

That is the part worth noticing.

SpeedFest is not some tiny American-car gathering being kept alive by twelve blokes with folding chairs.

There is a sizeable British appetite for this whole world.

The cars. The racing. The music. The food. The noise.

Brands Hatch has simply put a fence around it for the weekend.

And if you needed any further reassurance that Britain can handle NASCAR, pickups and Country music in one place:

apparently we’ve been doing it for years.

AMERICAN SPEEDFEST — USEFUL LINKS

Before you go: Future SpeedFest dates, line-ups and attractions can change. Check Brands Hatch directly for the latest event information before travelling.