One of the biggest names in country music will trade his guitar for driving gloves on Sunday — multi-time platinum-selling and award-winning artist Luke Combs will be the honorary pace car driver for the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series showdown at Nashville Superspeedway.
No stranger to performing in front of massive crowds, the two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year will take the wheel of the official 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse pace car in front of a packed house, with fans from 48 states and 19 foreign countries — some from as far away as New Zealand, Brazil and the Netherlands — in attendance.
“A show with this much horsepower deserves plenty of star power too,” said Matt Greci, general manager for Nashville Superspeedway. “You never know who will show up when NASCAR comes to the Music City for the Ally 400. We’re going to give Luke a fast car and see if he’s fast enough to drive away from the field of NASCAR’s best as we kick off Sunday’s showdown.”
Combs was Nashville Superspeedway’s honorary grand marshal for the 2021 Ally 400.
Serving as honorary pace car driver is just one highlight in a busy summer for the famed Grand Ole Opry member and 11-time CMA, four-time ACM and six-time Billboard Music Award winner. Combs recently released a new radio single, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” which will be featured on the soundtrack for the new “Twisters” movie, out July 19. The Asheville, North Carolina, native is the subject of a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit that opens July 11, and he is in the midst of a record-breaking “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old” stadium tour.
Earlier this year, Combs performed an unforgettable duet of “Fast Car” with Tracy Chapman during the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which Rolling Stone called “one of the all-time best collaborative performances in GRAMMY history.” Combs’ version of the song won Single of the Year at the 2024 ACM Awards and 2023 CMA Awards, where Chapman won Song of the Year. The double-platinum-certified single has garnered over 1.1 billion global streams to date and spent 18 weeks in the Top 5 of Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart. Combs’ latest album, “Fathers & Sons,” was released by Columbia Nashville on June 14. Recorded live, the 12-track album is available for purchase and streaming.
Combs will be featured on 23XI’s No. 23 Toyota showcasing a new hunting collection in collaboration with Columbia Sportswear that will launch next spring.
Fans can get stage-front access to driver introductions for Sunday’s star-studded Ally 400 by purchasing a pre-race track pass. The pre-race track pass includes stage-front access to the Ally 400 pre-race concert featuring Tim Dugger and pre-race driver appearances featuring Erik Jones, Todd Gilliland, AJ Allmendinger and Kyle Larson. Fans will also have access to the infield Turn 4 Viewing Experience and driver Introductions.
— Nashville Superspeedway —