RELATED: Brett Eldredge to perform at Chicagoland Speedway pre-race concert
Country music star Brett Eldredge will kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on Sunday at Chicagoland with a pre-race concert.
Eldredge sat down for a conversation with NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola earlier this season at Kansas Speedway. True story: he stopped midway through the interview to take a selfie with the Spongebob Squarepants 400 trophy before continuing on.
PD: Have you been to Chicagoland before?
Brett Eldredge: Yes, I went to school in the suburbs of Chicago. I’m very familiar with Chicago, it’s my favorite city in the world. To be going and kicking off the Chase there and getting to play the show that kicks it off, that’s going to be kind of a dream come true as a kid growing up in Illinois and watching racing. It’s going to be quite the night; I’m fired up.
PD: So you grew up watching racing.
BE: Yup. I grew up next to Indianapolis, next to the Indiana border, which is an hour-and-a-half, two hours to the Brickyard. So I’d go there and see the Indy 500 and stuff growing up. Living there, you kind of at least somewhat have to be a fan.
PD: So then … Indy 500 or Brickyard 400?
BE: I would really have to say NASCAR, just because of the rub of the paint and it’s just a more gritty kind of a race to me. It’s more personal, I guess you could say. I love watching the Indycars and everything, but there’s just something about watching NASCAR and about that Brickyard race that I just … that was the first time that I got a feeling from going to a race that I thought to myself, “This is a unique experience; this is an adrenaline rush just from being a fan.” With playing music, people get a rush by watching you up there on stage. I get a rush being up there on stage. But I also get a rush as a fan of NASCAR because I get to feel what it’s like just by watching and seeing people bumping into each other at 200 miles an hour going around a turn and I can’t even imagine being those drivers. I just got to ride in a pace car with Michael Waltrip out there right now and we’re going like 120, 130 and it felt intense at that speed. So I’ve got a lot of respect for the guys driving at 200.
PD: Was that your first pace car ride?
BE: That was my second pace car ride, but it was my first one with somebody like Michael Waltrip. He’s an awesome guy and obviously his track record shows. He’s a great person, too. He was singing my songs as he was driving and he was like, “Let’s see what this baby can do,” and I was like “All right, you’re the pro so I’ll just sit back,” … it was great.
PD: Did you see him on “Dancing with the Stars” at all?
BE: No! That’s awesome. I’ve got to talk to him about that now. I’m always on the tour bus so I don’t watch much TV, but now I’ve got to ask him to show some of these dance moves off. Now we’re going to be buddies.
PD: He’s a tall, lanky guy, so the dancing was … interesting.
BE: That’s the wild thing. I’m a really tall guy, too, and I don’t really like small spaces. I can’t imagine as drivers, getting into those little cars and driving around, let alone somebody as tall as Michael Waltrip (6-foot-5) getting in that car. That’s impressive. Big ups to him.
PD: So, safe to say you wouldn’t get behind the wheel of a stock car, then?
BE: I like spectating. I love sitting on pit road and watching the cars come in. I did that last year in Kansas and it was like … that was intense. All these guys hopping over that wall and they get really mad if they miss one second and it’s a cool thing. It’s a sport. It’s really a sport.
PD: Which of your country music friends is the biggest NASCAR fanatic?
BE: Oh, Blake Shelton’s a huge fan. And Clint Bowyer, I think, is a good buddy of his. And his tour manager, Kevin, is a huge NASCAR fan. It’s cool to see, because they helped introduce me to some of these folks sometimes if I don’t know anybody, and they know everybody in NASCAR. It’s cool that they’re fans of something other than music. They’re fans of something else, as well.