Founded in 1976, the rock band Foreigner has sold more than 50 million albums world-wide and continues to play concerts to large crowds everywhere they go.

Kelly Hansen, who became the band's lead singer in 2005, talked recently about playing a pre-race concert at Texas Motor Speedway this Sunday, and other things NASCAR:

Mick Jones and Kelly Hansen

Foreigner, the legendary rock band known for its chart-topping hits in the 1970s and '80s, will headline the pre-race show Sunday prior to the Samsung 500, Texas Motor Speedway has announced.

The expected crowd will be the largest that the group has ever performed in front of for a concert. The band will play a 45-minute set of their hits on the frontstretch stage beginning at 11:35 a.m. local time.

Tickets are still available by calling (817) 215-8500 or visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com. In addition, fans can purchase a $79 credential which allows access to a special pre-race area for the concert.

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Q: Where are you as we speak?

Hansen: I'm in the back of a car, appropriately enough, talking to you from Texas Motor Speedway. We just got done doing a promotion.

Q: What did they put you in down there?

Hansen: I was in the back of the M&M's car.

Q: How was that? Did it feel like your first time?

Hansen: Oh, it was a blast. They took us around the track and got us up to 170 [mph] maybe. It was very cool. (watch video)

The odd thing is that you get off an airplane, and then we went directly to the track and directly into the car. That was a trip right there. And then suddenly you're going around this place at 170. I was telling the driver that I thought his car was running a little rich, because I was smelling a lot of gas. But I actually wanted to go a little faster. I was in the car yelling, 'Go! Go! Go!' Mick [Jones, who founded Foreigner] and I went out in two separate cars at the same time, so we were trading inside and outside. And we were going pretty fast. I thought we did like three laps but I later found out it was more like six because they just went around so quickly.

I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, we were supposed to be here a day earlier and couldn't make it. If we had been able to get here when we were supposed to, I think we may have been able to get behind the wheel. I'll have to save that for another time, because I would really like to do that.

Q: You actually know a little bit about cars, don't you?

Hansen: Yeah, I do a little bit of work on my own vehicles. But only a little. I enjoy it.

Q: What kind of cars do you own that you work on?

Hansen: I have a 911 Porsche that I've had for a while. I had a '69 Camaro. I had a '73 Z-28 that I would do all my own work on. I've had that 911 for probably a dozen years now. And, of course, you know, some Harleys and things like that that I've had.

I'm kind of a shovel-head guy. I like working on the bikes, myself. I'm not into the new stuff where you need special tools and measuring stuff. I'm old-school like when you tighten a bolt, it's either a grunt or a double-grunt ... something like that.

Q: Are you a NASCAR fan or is this your first introduction to it?

Hansen: I'm a racing fan. I enjoy watching racing. I don't have a lot of time to follow the whole season, so I just get snippets here and there. But I do enjoy it.

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I'm old-school like when you tighten a bolt, it's either a grunt or a double-grunt ...

”

KELLY HANSEN

Q: Things have gone well for you and the band since you stepped in for longtime lead singer Lou Gramm, haven't they?

Hansen: It's been going a million miles an hour. After getting in the car [at Texas], I find that there are some comparisons in doing what we do. There is a real energy rush; it's very loud, and you get this feeling like you're going very fast [whether you're playing a concert or riding along in a race car]. It's very exciting.

So, in many odd ways, there is kind of a parallel between what we do and what they do [as drivers]. That was interesting to discover when we were on the track.

Q: For someone who grew up with Foreigner more or less, a quick review of your song titles reveals that some of them definitely could relate to some guys in NASCAR -- Cold As Ice, Hot Blooded, Head Games, etc. What do you think?

Hansen: I think that's definitely true. I think the NASCAR crowd is the Foreigner crowd. My gauge for it is when you get in your car and go fast and play a Foreigner tune and it just works, that's the magic right there. That tells you that it's a good match.

Q: So do you have any ideas what driver would fit the song titles Hot Blooded or Cold As Ice?

Hansen: You know, I don't know. We were talking about who we think might win [this Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Texas]. I was thinking maybe Jimmie Johnson, but we're kind of for Jeff Gordon. So we'll split those titles among them.

Q: Well, Hot Blooded might suit someone like Kyle Busch better ...

Hansen: Yeah, you might be right about that.

Q: And somebody else could be Dirty White Boy?

Hansen: You could come up with a whole slew of 'em, probably.

Q: I don't know about Double Vision, though ...

Hansen: No, no. You don't want that on the race track.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.