Jérôme Miron-USA TODAY Sports
NASCAR and music go hand in hand, well let’s just say they go hand in hand and that’s it.
While browsing playlists on my iPhone the other day, I discovered that I have some weird playlists that don’t really fit into categories.
One is a playlist of songs about cars, the other is a playlist about Chevrolets in particular and the third is a playlist inspired by the drivers’ introductory songs at Bristol. This led me to think that I should create a playlist of NASCAR songs, which then led to the Top 10 NASCAR Songs.
What is a NASCAR song? Well, any song that directly references NASCAR qualifies, as well as any song that has at least something to do with cars.
Honorable mention
Kickstart My Heart from rockers Motley Crue’s album Dr. Feelgood is actually a song about drugs, not racing. The song has a direct reference to auto racing, it is about high fuel fun car racing not NASCAR.
However, this song gets an honorable mention on the Top 10 NASCAR Songs list because of that opening guitar riff that sounds like a car shifting gears harshly – it’s a sound that would make any racing fan smile.
#10: Born to be Wild by Hinder
Oklahoma rock band Hinder has remade the Steppenwolf classic “Born To Be Wild” which was used in 2007 by TNT’s NASCAR Summer Series coverage as intro and bumper music. Although technically the song had nothing to do with NASCAR specifically, the song was used several times during the broadcast, particularly the lyric “Get your motor runnin’ head out on the Highway” and it quickly became synonymous with NASCAR that year.
Play this song for your favorite longtime NASCAR fan and they’ll probably light up remembering their favorite racing moments from 2007, or maybe angry at TNT’s racing coverage. Hinder’s album When the smoke clears was released in May 2015.
No. 9: NASCAR Love by Toby Lightman
Singer-songwriter Toby Lightman, classically trained on the violin and self-taught on the guitar, was commissioned to perform the theme song for NASCAR on Fox in 2008. Lightman was previously best known for his song “My Sweet Song” which appeared in an episode of Boston Legal, an episode of Bones, and the PS soundtrack. I love you. The song NASCAR LOVE (Let’s Go Racing) features iconic and catchy lyrics that speak to many NASCAR fans:
I love it when it’s four wide, I love it when it’s fast,
I love when the leader is caught, the pack passes,
I love it when they make a lot of noise,
I can’t wait to hear from DW. say “boogity, boogity, boogity, let’s go, errand boys.”
Lightman’s most recent album was released in October 2014: All kinds of people.
#8: Shut Up and Drive by Rhianna
Song number 8 is “Shut Up And Drive”, performed by Barbadian singer Rhianna on her 2007 album. A good girl gone bad. Although it doesn’t technically reference NASCAR or racing, the song has catchy lyrics that make it easy to include in a list of NASCAR songs:
Because it’s zero to sixty over three point five
Baby you got the keys
Now shut up and drive, drive, drive
Shut up and drive, drive, drive
Besides, what NASCAR fan, or what NASCAR crew chief hasn’t wanted to chastise their driver with “shut up and drive” from time to time? I know I certainly did.
#7: I Can’t Drive 55 by Sammy Hagar
While most songs about NASCAR in particular are country songs, probably because the sport originated in the South and is very prevalent in southern markets where country music is also popular, one cannot leave Sammy Hagar’s iconic ’80s hit “I Can’t Drive 55” off the list. The clip takes place partly on a race track after all and it seems like a perfect theme song for all those pit road speeding penalties:
When I drive this slow you know it’s hard to steer
And I can’t get my car out of second gear
Especially since the song is outdated as the speed limit on most highways is now over the 55 MPH that many were supposed to follow when the song was released in 1984. Despite this, the song is still relevant today, especially for NASCAR fans with a need for speed.
No. 6: I love NASCAR by Cledus T. Judd
Cledus T Judd, a country singer and parodist often called the “Weird Al of Country Music” is at number 6 with his unofficial NASCAR country anthem “I Love NASCAR” from 2004. Although he mocked NASCAR, the song ended up being Judd’s highest-charting song among his nine studio albums, two EPs and countless singles.
The song, a parody of Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar, calls driver Tony Stewart a crybaby, mocks the relationship between drivers Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr, and calls attention to less successful drivers by stating that Jeff Burton and Mike Skinner “I forgot what it feels like to be a winner.The song also mentions many familiar sponsors that will make any NASCAR fan smile. My favorite part of the song is the pit stop part where the driver asks for two right front tires and a new pair of drawers.
Judd, real name Barry Poole, retired from the music business and is now a motivational speaker and working on a book detailing his life according to his website.
No. 5: The Intimidator by Charlie Daniels Band
Written by Charlie Daniels, “The Intimidator” comes in at number 5. A long-time NASCAR fan, Daniels defends the late Dale Earnhardt in song by describing the driver in song with lyrics like “The man was serious when he got behind the wheel, with eagle eyes and nerves of steel.»
The song appears on the Charlie Daniels Band album, Essential super hitsreleased in October 2012. The song is an anthem for fans of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. and also mentions his son Dale Earnhardt, JR and the number eight and will certainly also be high on many Junior Nation members’ lists.
No. 4: Superman Jimmie (NASCAR Square Dance) by Marty Falle
How many people can say they have their own square dance song? NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson can. Marty Falle and his band Dingletown from northern Ohio wrote Superman Jimmie (NASCAR Square dance). There’s something to be said for a square dance that details six-time champion Jimmie Johnson’s career, from the crash that nearly killed him at Watkin’s Glen to racing against Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
The song is on Falle’s album Redneck Roadrunner and was released in September 2011, coincidentally the same year as fellow bandmate Tony Stewart, featured in the song with “slumped and smiling behind the wheel, self-proclaimed car king, won it all in 02 and 05, say what you want but “Old Smoke” could drive” took down what was called Jimmie Johnson’s legacy by winning his third NASCAR championship. The song is catchy and despite your feelings about Johnson, you might find yourself singing along randomly”Superman Jimmie, from El Cajon.
No. 3: Running the Right Way by Colt Ford
Georgia native Colt Ford, described in the biography on his website as “just a good ol’ unassuming country boy from Georgia”, is well known for his blend of country music and progressive hip hop and is often referred to as a “country rapper”. He has worked with Montgomery Gentry, Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert and others. Ford’s “Racin’ The Way It Should Be” is about one of my favorite stops on the NASCAR circuit, Bristol Motor Speedway.
Ford captures the essence of Bristol, known as the last great Colosseum, with lyrics like “We’re going around in circles, half a mile full of speed” and real racing action on the track with “they rub against each other bumper to bumper.“The song appears on the album Bristol Nights: the official music of Bristol Motor Speedway and both bears the name and incorporates the speedway’s unofficial slogan “Racing The Way It Should To Be”. Random fun fact about Colt Ford: He was a professional golfer!
No. 2: Country Nation by Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley’s song “Country Nation” comes in at number 2. The song was released in 2014 on the album Moonshine in the trunkan album named after the very roots of NASCAR-moonshine racing. “Country Nation” highlights and celebrates the nation’s ties to the nation, including their love of NASCAR. Paisley has made no effort to hide his fandom for NASCAR and especially the Hendrick Motorsports drivers – many of whose numbers are mentioned in the song: 24, 48 and 88. In fact, Paisley leaves out only one Hendrick driver: Kasey Kahne. However, he mentions pilot Tony Stewart’s number 14:
We pray before we run
Bravo 14 and 48
And we drink ice cold beer on Friday night
Yeah, we’re a big country, it’s true
Sorry Kasey Kahne, I guess Brad Paisley just isn’t a fan. Brad even made fun of the fact that he and driver Jeff Gordon look a lot alike on the CMAs.
No. 1: Talladega by Eric Church
Eric Church’s “Talladega” is our number one NASCAR song. For what? The song is about the iconic track of the NASCAR circuit – Talladega Super Speedway, where the indoor atmosphere is just as if not more important to the racing experience at the track, but Church’s song “Talladega” is not just about the track, the drivers or NASCAR as a whole.
In fact, the song mentions very little about these things – casually alluding to racing here and there with lyrics like “Slow down and cars going real fast, we laughed and lived, drank and wished, and thought while that checkered flag waved”, the song personifies and gives emotion to the important relationships that form throughout life between friends and the experiences that result from a NASCAR race and freedom to simply be on the track and not in the “real” world. world. » The song is one of twelve songs on Eric Church’s album. The strangers.
Do you agree with our choices? What have we missed? Be sure to let us know on social media.
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