NASCAR rocks steady with Hinder's new TNT theme (cont'd)

One independent record deal and lots of radio play later, Hinder got a call from Turner Sports to remake Born to Be Wild and shoot an accompanying rock video promoting NASCAR on TNT.

Hanson, who admitted he wasn't too crazy about the song at first, said it was the quintessential rock video, "a video the band always wanted to do but never had the chance to."

Muscle cars, gorgeous women and pyrotechnics are all words Hanson used to describe the scene set inside an abandoned warehouse with Shelby GTs, a Chevelle SS and a Camaro with a crazy paint job.

"In certain parts, cars are doing donuts around us three feet away peeling up the floor," he said. "It was a fast day of drinking, lots of rum and having lots of fun. It's an all-American rock video, everything you would imagine from a rock video."

And the song: "Once we got in the studio and laid it down, new life came to the song."

The band took away some of the keyboard and added a ripping guitar solo and raised the tempo. The rock-and-roll lyrics remain the same.

If the jam makes channel surfers stop and take note than mission accomplished, according to NASCAR.

"NASCAR is unlike stick and ball sports. Kids don't grow up 'playing' NASCAR. There are no NASCAR teams in schools. Kids don't play NASCAR in the street ... So we have to do unique and creative things to attract the next generation of fans, like a film with Will Ferrell or joining up with a band like Hinder," said Andrew Giangola, director of business communications for NASCAR. "It's a win-win: fans of these artists will sample our sport, while the NASCAR faithful checks out the records and films of the artists feeling a need for speed."

Last season, Bon Jovi performed during the pre-race show at the Daytona 500. The Red Hot Chili Peppers played an in-race concert at the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge the same week multi-platinum Stadium Arcadium was released and rose to the top of the charts. Later in the season, Barenaked Ladies launched their new CD with a concert at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400.