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What’s happening, Daily Downforce readers? We know that we all love the great sport of NASCAR. We also know that there are a lot of supplementary pieces of media out there, from television shows to documentaries about the sport we love so much. With that said, for this article, we wanted to take a look at some other examples of NASCAR in media, specifically those pertaining to pop culture. There have been several appearances from NASCAR drivers in music videos, movies about NASCAR, and even some high-profile television series that featured either a real-life driver from NASCAR or used the sport as a plot point in an episode or two. So, with no further ado, let’s take a look at some of those. Here are just a few examples of NASCAR references in pop culture media. Check it out!
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Unsurprisingly, most NASCAR references and cameos when it comes to music videos are from the country music genre. While my taste in music these days runs less towards country and more towards gothic rock, it still deserves a look. One of the earliest music videos I saw was “Rough & Ready” by Trace Adkins. The song is a southern, good ole boy anthem to pound Budweisers to…and the director, Michael Salomon, knew it. That’s why it features NASCAR’s poster child of the mid-2000s and Budweiser-sponsored driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. What’s more American than that?
Dale Jr.’s cameo in this video is brief. There a lyric in the song that references “Earnhardt racing stickers” and, as Adkins is singing that line, a car pulls up beside of him. Adkins does a double-take to see that the driver is none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junebug offers Adkins a wave before speeding away from the red light. It was a pretty cool wink and a nod from NASCAR’s boom period.
A music video that features NASCAR in a more prominent role is Alan Jackson’s “Who’s Cheatin’ Who”. While the song itself doesn’t reference NASCAR in any way (it’s a relationship song), the video features the sport prominently, with real-life drivers making appearances. It’s clear that director Brad Fuller is a fan.
The video starts with a montage of drivers putting on gloves, firing engines, and crew members going over pre-race prep. Then it cuts to real-life 1990s NASCAR drivers racing around Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the video was filmed. The video features drivers such as Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Rusty Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, and Mark Martin, who are somewhat incorporated into the video’s storyline.
Alan Jackson pulls his red Ford F-150 into the pits, and some crew members start to work on it. When it comes time for the race, he hops into the number 98 Raybestos Ford truck and makes some laps, often whooping his more experienced rivals. When he got sick of that ride, he left the track only to return in a Bigfoot Monster truck. He pulls the truck on the track facing the wrong way, and all the other drivers slam on their breaks and promptly start driving the other way. It’s a pretty funny twist to end the video.
Overall, the song is good, and the music video is fun…even if it is just a big commercial for Ford.
Earlier, I referenced that I don’t typically listen to country music much anymore. There is one exception to that. I love Brooks & Dunn and even Ronnie Dunn’s solo work. I still buy the albums in their physical and digital forms. My earliest exposure to the greatest duo in the history of country music was this music video. Why is it on this list? Because it features Dale Earnhardt, of course!
The song itself and even the video aren’t about NASCAR. It’s a rowdy heartbreak song. But it does feature a lengthy cameo from 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt. Big E stands in frequently throughout the video for duo member Kix Brooks. It works. They look a lot alike. I really like this song, and I think you, Daily Downforce reader, should really watch it. It’s pretty cool.
Next up is the song “Old Alabama” by Brad Paisley and it’s exactly what it sounds like: a tribute to the band Alabama. Members of the band are featured in the video as well as NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip. Rick Hendrick and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller also make cameo appearances.
The video starts out with Jeff Gordon’s number 24 AARP Chevy sitting at a drive-in. Music videos from the band Alabama are playing on the big screen, and Gordon and Paisley are hanging out and watching it. Then, the song kicks off with Paisley performing. In some clips, he can be seen wearing a Hendrick Motorsports shirt while playing a Daytona 500 guitar in others. Also, throughout the video, Gordon takes a leisurely drive through the backroads of Tennessee in his 24 HMS Chevy while Darrell Waltrip is hilariously in his open-face helmet driving around a golf cart. The only thing that would make it funnier is if DW was driving his Aarons Dream Machine lawnmower.
It’s a pretty fun tribute to both Alabama and NASCAR. Check it out!
Last in the music video section of this article is “The Road I’m On” by post-grunge rock band, 3 Doors Down. This song isn’t really about NASCAR either but it does feature cameos from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart. The two drivers are shown in the beginning driving custom Chevrolet Tahoes. They come together at a red light and then embark in a street race once the light turns green. The two eventually end up at a local short track where a race was already in session. They race there for a little bit before busting out and returning to the streets as the video ends.
Dale Jr. had a working relationship with the band for years. In 2008 at the All-Star race, Junior ran a Gray Ghost throwback that was sponsored by the 3 Doors Down song, “Citizen Soldier”. This is the first of their collaborations. Check out this glamorized Chevy commercial below.
Getting the most obvious (perhaps ugly) entries out of the way first, we have to talk about The Dukes of Hazzard. The show was an action-comedy series that aired on CBS from early 1979 to 1985 across 7 seasons. Everything about it screamed NASCAR, even though the main storyline wasn’t about the sport. However, the problematically named and poorly aged General Lee with the black 01 stamped on the side was clearly influenced by NASCAR. Heck, even the doors were weldedshut, so the Dukes had to climb in and out through the window, just like in NASCAR.
There are several references to NASCAR throughout the show. For example, Uncle Jesse had done times for running moonshine back in the day, around the time NASCAR was being founded…despite him not being a driver himself. Bo and Luke Duke are obviously huge NASCAR fans. Cale Yarborough and Terry Labonte both have cameos in episodes. In season 5, Bo and Luke leave the series to pursue careers as professional NASCAR drivers. They eventually come back in season 6. In the sequel movies, Bo continues his quest to be a NASCAR driver.
I enjoyed this show when I was younger. It was a quintessential southern pride television series. It’s now obviously very dated and a relic of its time. If you want to go back and watch it, by all means, do so. It isn’t currently streaming on any streaming services, so you’d have to buy the episodes digitally on Amazon or something.
Perhaps more famous than the show itself is the show’s opening theme, performed by Waylon Jennings.
Do you all remember The Crew when it came out? The Crew was a Netflix series that lasted only 1 season in 2021. The show starred Kevin James as a NASCAR crew chief struggling to adapt when the team that he works for is passed down to new ownership. The show obviously was pretty poorly received. But I liked it for what it was. I know, I know. I’m in the minority. However, the show did have some decent comedy and some behind-the-scenes looks at NASCAR team operations.
Several real-life racetracks make appearances in the show, and there are several cameos from drivers, including Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, and Cole Custer. Announcer Jamie Little even makes an appearance. You can still watch the show on Netflix if you feel so inclined. Here’s the trailer.
One of the more accomplished actors from the NASCAR garage was Carl Edwards. He appeared in a variety of TV shows and movies. Among his more prominent guest-starring roles was his appearance in the crime-drama show 24. He portrayed the character of Jim Hill, a member of the Department of Homeland Security in season 5 episode “Day 5: 10:00 PM-11:00 PM.” You can check out a short clip of his appearance on the show in the video below.
I must admit, this one is one of my guilty pleasures. I recently got into this show, which is the quintessential CW teen drama type. But, in the show’s second season, there is a subplot that features NASCAR. The episode that most prominently features the sport is season 2, episode 19, “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning.” In the episode, Nathan’s uncle Cooper, a professional race car driver, comes to the titular small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina, to cheer up his nephew. In his efforts to do this, he somehow arranges for Nathan, himself, and Lucus to race cars around the Charlotte Motor Speedway in an exhibition session.
Obviously, this would never happen in a million years, and you can see why in this episode. Horribly depressed, Nathan ignores his calls to come down pit road and stays out on track, intentionally crashing into the outside wall. Yes, it’s dramatic, but I don’t know…I dig the show. Jeff Burton makes a cameo appearance in the episode, and real-life NASCAR stock cars can be seen as well. You can stream this show on Hulu and Max. Check out this short snippet from the episode.
I sort of have a love-hate relationship with this show. I like Tim Allen…most of the time. In the show, Allen portrays an outdoorsy, all-man kind of character, like he did on Home Improvement. The difference between that show and Last Man Standing is, as the title suggests, he’s a man living in a house with a wife and three daughters.
In the seventeenth episode of the show’s first season, Tony Stewart makes a cameo as himself. He’s doing some sort of promotion at the Outdoor Man sporting goods store, and his number 14 Office Depot Mobile 1 Chevy is prominently featured. It’s a pretty fun episode with real-world NASCAR references. Check out a short clip of the episode below.
Here’s the big one. There have been a number of films inspired by NASCAR or that used NASCAR as a plot point. Among the most popular is the Tom Cruise flick, Days of Thunder. I’m sure most of our readers know this movie, so I won’t into to all of the details. I’ll just say that this is a 1990 sports-drama film that follows Cole Trickle, an up-and-coming NASCAR driver. It features many classic paint schemes, such as the Mello Yello 51 and the green and yellow City Chevrolet number 46, provided to the filmmakers by none other than Rick Hendrick.
There are some driver cameos as well. Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnet, and Harry Gant all make appearances. Announcers Dr. Jerry Punch, Ned Jarrett, Bob Jenkins, and Benny Parsons also have cameos. Do yourself a favor and watch this film if you haven’t already. It’s pretty good.
Logan Lucky is perhaps a lesser-known film on this list. It came out in 2017 and stars Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Dwight Yoakum, and even Seth McFarlane. It’s a heist comedy film that is about a man named Jimmy Logan who gets laid off from his construction job in the tunnels beneath Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wanting revenge and desperate for cash, he devises a plan to rob the speedway using his knowledge of the underground tunnels. The heist was to go down the week after the Coca-Cola 600, but with construction being completed before schedule, it forced their hand to enact their plan to rob the speedway during Memorial Day race weekend.
It’s a pretty funny movie and contains a lot of NASCAR references. NASCAR commentators Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Adam Alexander all make appearances as themselves. Drivers who made cameos in the film include Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch (who portray state troopers), Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano (as security guards), and Kyle Larson (as a limo driver). Check out the trailer below.
A much more famous film on his list is the movie Cars. Cars is a Pixar animated film about a racecar named Lightning McQueen who is on track to win his first-ever Poston Cup championship. That is until he gets lost in the small country town of Radiator Springs where he finds himself in trouble with the town’s sheriff. Owen Wilson play McQueen.
NASCAR references are all throughout this film. Doc Hudson is based on the Fabulous Hudson Hornet while drivers Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mario Andretti, and Darrell Waltrip all play car versions of themselves. This a great family-friendly movie to introduce kids to NASCAR.
This film is admittedly the silliest on the list. Herbie: Fully Loaded is a 2005 Disney film starring Lindsey Lohan, who drives a Volkes Wagon beetle with a mind of its own. The number on a bug is 53, and she enters the car into NASCAR races. It’s more of a fantasy movie than any of the others and features driver cameos from Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jarrett. You can stream the movie on Disney Plus.
Talladega Nights is probably among the most famous NASCAR-themed movies on this list, particularly for fans my age. It’s a 2006 comedy film starring (and written by) Will Ferrell, who portrays Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR crew member-turned-driver. One of Ricky’s biggest issues throughout the movie is his willingness to win at all costs (because “if you ain’t first, you’re last), which puts him on a rollback just as often as it does in victory lane.
This movie is hilarious. I love almost everything about it. The uncensored version is particularly awesome with even raunchier jokes than the version that airs periodically on Comedy Central. And as funny as this movie is, it also has a lot of heart. Some of the funniest characters in this movie are Bobby’s deadbeat dad and his two children, Walker and Texas Ranger. If, for some reason, you haven’t seen this one, what are you doing with your life? Stop what you’re doing right now and go watch it. It’s streaming on Hulu.
Driver cameos in this film include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurry, and Darrell Waltrip.
That does it for this list, Daily Downforce readers. What are some of your favorite NASCAR references in pop culture media? Did they make our list? What would you add or omit? Let us know! And be sure to keep tuning in here at DailyDownforce.com for all the latest news and stories all about the great sport of NASCAR!
