Kanaan Debuts New Livery at COTA

Tony Kanaan's Big Machine livery

Tony Kanaan’s No. 14 Chevrolet is sporting a new livery this weekend as he competes in the penultimate round of the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge Series at the virtual Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.

As the team continues to promote their marketing partners on the No. 14 Chevrolet in this virtual racing season–past liveries include ABC Supply and 7-Eleven–it allows Kanaan to thank them for the support being shown in his Last Lap Tour, the official name of final INDYCAR season in the actual world.

“We’re fortunate to be able to showcase the companies that are behind us in the real racing world on the iRacing platform as well," Kanaan said. “When it was time to put Big Machine Vodka on the car for the fifth race of the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge Series, I asked Mark if they’d like to go with Big Machine Hand Sanitizer instead of the vodka brand. I believe it’s very fitting for the moment we’re going through and also gives them the appropriate exposure for such a cool initiative. Scott and Mark Borchetta really knocked it out of the park adapting their distillery to produce hand sanitizer and make it available for the public."

Scott Borchetta holds the case of hand sanitizer while his brother Mark and Nashville's Finest look on

“Considering the moment, this was an easy decision to pivot to Big Machine Hand Sanitizer," explained Mark Borchetta, the executive vice-president of Big Machine Distillery. “We recognized in early March that the need for sanitizer was going to be very serious. Within seven days we had repurposed and were servicing a line of police cars, firetrucks and EMT's at our Big Machine Distillery & Tavern in Nashville where we handed out dozens of cases and thousands of bottles to our first responders."

Not knowing how strong the response to the hand sanitizer would be, the vodka distillers began by filling small ‘airplane size’ bottles but the popularity soared as word got out beyond the first responders and the demand for larger quantities and containers had to be met.

Now the sanitizer can be bought online in containers ranging in size from 50 mL to a gallon on the company's website: https://www.bigmachinevodka.com/shop.

“The response has been so strong that this could become a permanent business for us," Borchetta revealed. “But right now we are doing our part to serve our community, and now the country, to fight this virus."

Big Machine Distillery’s strategic pivot enabled them to hire workers, help fill a nationwide need and still donate their hand sanitizers to first responders. That initiative, combined with the race team helping to spread the word nationally, has turned this venture into a win-win for all.

Big Machine Team drivers include Indy 500 winners Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti, 2019 NASCAR Champ Kyle “Rowdy" Busch, and rising IndyCar star, Santino Ferrucci.