Only makes sense that Eric Church has a great Talladega story, am I right?
The race track is the focus of one of the country music star’s signature songs, which was released in 2014 as a single ahead of his album The Outsiders. It’s one of the songs that really helped signify that Eric Church was one of the best in the business, and it also earned him an invitation to drive the pace car at… you guessed it, Talladega.
Church spoke with Country Heat Weekly last year, and during the interview, NASCAR racing came up. After briefly describing himself as a “Dale Earnhardt fan,” he got into the hilarious story about his experience driving the pace car at Talladega. It first started with the details, and getting down to Talladega Speedway from Nashville:
“The year after ‘Talladega’ came out – ‘Talladega’ was the number one song – I got asked to come and drive the pace car at Talladega. I was like, ‘Yeah, sounds like a fun thing.’ The night before, we had an industry party in Nashville, and it was only like a 3 or 4 hour ride to Talladega. They said, ‘You need to be there at 8 a.m..’
We stayed at this industry party until 2:30 (in the morning). And we get on the bus, and we get there, and I didn’t know what my responsibilities were. At 7:30 a.m., there’s a knock on the bus door. I get up and they’re like, ‘Hey, you ready to go drive the pace car?’ I had to practice. I’m actually doing that thing where I’m like… I’m not actually sure I should.”
You’re telling me Eric Church almost drove the pace car drunk at Talladega?
According to how he tells the story, the country music star was trying his best to be responsible. At one point, he even told the guy – who he described as a “Bubba type” – that he wasn’t sure he should be driving a car… especially not one that’s meant to go over 100 miles per hour:
“I was like, ‘I was at a party until 2:30 in the morning… you think we should wait a little bit?’ He said, ‘Man, it’s NASCAR, you are fine.’ I said, ‘Alright bud.’ And then we did (the practice run) and it was fine. The race came later. So by the time I get to the race, I’m leading the pace car around, and I remember it was Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were on the pole.”
Church then went into the fact that if you aren’t going fast enough around the banking on the turns at Talladega, the cars will literally slide down the steep embankment. The only way to stay up on the track is to keep the speed above 110 to 120 miles per hour.
And for those who aren’t well-versed in NASCAR talk, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson being “on the pole” meant that they were the two drivers directly behind the pace car to start the race. Eric Church was still struggling to trust the car and give it gas, which led to one of the NASCAR drivers behind him giving him a little sign to speed things up:
“As I’m coming into the first turn, (the guy next to me) is going ‘Faster, faster, faster.’ So I’m going faster. Jeff Gordon was behind me and he came up and he tapped me (with his car) just to say hello. It was playful, but he tapped me, and my whole world went (sideways). It was a wonder I didn’t crash.”
Could you imagine the headlines? “Eric Church Wipes Out At Talladega” and “Jeff Gordon Purposefully Wrecks Church’s Slow-Moving Pace Car” would have done insane numbers.
Fortunately, Eric Church was able to keep it together after the bump. That being said, he shared that the driver that playfully nudged him was never his favorite, and the bump didn’t help:
“I was never a Jeff Gordon fan. But I said after we got to the next turn, ‘If he does that again, I’m slamming on my brakes and he’s gonna have no radiator for the rest of this race. If you have any comms, tell him to never do that again.’
He was just saying hello, and taking a guy who he knew was nervous going into it and gave him a little tap.”
I’m just glad that when you hear the words “Eric Church” and Talladega” together, you still just think of his kickass song from 2014. There’s an alternate universe I suppose where we got an Eric Church-Jeff Gordon rivalry for the ages, and Church and Talladega together probably would bring up something totally different.
“Talladega”
