Former University of South Carolina basketball player and founder of Proof Alcoholic Ice Cream secured a partnership to be the official ice cream of Darlington Raceway.
“By partnering with the track Too Tough To Tame, we’re aligning with a brand that’s as high-spirited, engaging and as interesting as ours. I can’t wait to introduce our ice cream innovation to Darlington Raceway’s fans,” said Jenn Randall-Collins, founder of Proof, in a news release.
Fans at the speedway will be able to purchase Proof for the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR on May 7-9 and the Labor Day race weekend Sept. 4-5.
Randall-Collins created her ice cream from an old family recipe for spiked custard. The Kentucky native has eleven flavors of ice cream incorporating moonshine, rum and (of course) top-shelf Kentucky bourbon, she told The State in 2019.
The family recipe has been passed down for generations, and Randall-Collins helped develop a proprietary process for creating the spiked custard base to allow for higher alcohol content.
While there are many liquor-flavored or low alcohol level ice creams in the market, Proof is one of only two brands in the nation to use 80-proof liquor to raise the alcohol by volume rating, or ABV, she said. Proof’s ABV is 7 percent, which translates to 14 proof — about the same as a high gravity craft beer, Randall-Collins said.
Randall-Collins graduated from USC in 1995 with a degree in business and then moved back to Kentucky. In 2015, she returned to South Carolina to run Proof and now has the ice cream in 260 stores in the Southeast, according to her website.
Since 1950, Darlington Raceway in rural Darlington, South Carolina, has been a staple track in NASCAR racing.
“Like Darlington Raceway, Proof Alcoholic Ice Cream is an innovative product produced in the Palmetto State,” said Darlington President Kerry Tharp.
Laurryn Salem covers retail and business for The State. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2020, where she studied journalism and political science. Laurryn reported at the Greenville News before moving back to Columbia and joining The State in 2020.
