Brennan Poole using Chicago Street Race, and his hair, to honor his mom

With the NASCAR Chicago Street Race weekend coming up, I spoke with Brennan Poole about the event and his feelings heading into it. Poole has a brand-new sponsor in Van Der Hagen this week and they are planning a very special auction for one lucky fan to win after the race. It is also a small part of how Poole continues to honor his mom.

Van Der Hagen and Brennan Poole are going to auction off his firesuit from the Chicago Street Race. The Xfinity Series driver is all set to tackle the streets and when he’s done, someone is going to own a piece of NASCAR history.

All the proceeds are going to the Sea Turtle Conservancy in honor of his late mother, Erin.

“With Van Der Hagen we’re doing this cool thing where we’re going to bid my suit off,” Poole said. “[Go to] Bidonthesuit.com and you can actually win my suit that I’m going to wear this weekend in the race and all the proceeds are going to go to removing plastic from the ocean, something that’s obviously important to all of us.

“I’m very excited about that, I think it’s really cool because somebody is not only going to be benefitting a good cause but also taking home a suit that was actually worn in the very first-ever race on the Chicago Street Course because the Xfinity race is before Cup. So, it’s the first race you can have the fire suit that I wore in the race. We’re really excited about that and I think it’s just a really cool thing to do.”

This isn’t the only way that Poole is going to honor his mom this weekend. He has been sporting a bit of a “new” look in the past year, ever since she passed.

Why Brennan Poole’s bleach-blonde hair matters so much

With Van Der Hagen being a high-quality shaving brand, I had to ask about Brennan Poole’s hair. I was curious if we might see a special haircut or styled mustache this weekend. While Poole will stick to his usual look in Chicago, it still has a special meaning.

When you see that blonde hair on top of his head, it is just as much a dedication to his mom as it is a style choice.

“I’ve got the blonde hair still, of course,” Poole explained. “Which was for my mother. I’ll tell you this story because I don’t think everyone quite knows about it. But when I was a kid racing quarter midgets and stuff my mom would, we would bleach my hair every summer. I went to a Christian school, [we] weren’t allowed to have long hair, dye your hair, anything fun, we weren’t able to do that. So in the summertime like the day we let out of school I bleached my hair and I raced all summer with the bleached hair. Something I always did with my mom.

“So my mom passed away a bit over a year ago, I bleached my hair – I kinda always wanted to do it again, like for fun, I had been talking about it for years and I just didn’t do it. When she passed I said well I gotta do this, this is kinda my way of remembering my mom. So I did that and I’ve had the blonde hair.”

With all of the work done off the track, in the simulator, on iRacing, and everything else – Brennan Poole is ready to race at Chicago. He’s also ready to use his platform to honor his mom and do some good in the world, too.