If you want an idea of how Brad Keselowski might be feeling these days about his rivalry with Carl Edwards, all you need to do is look at his song selection for Food City 500 driver introductions.
The 26-year-old Keselowski, who was involved in an on-track incident at Atlanta Motor Speedway at NASCAR’s last Sprint Cup event, has never been one to walk away from a challenge and has been rather vocal about the run-in with Edwards. By choosing “Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty, for his March 21 introduction at Bristol Motor Speedway, it appears to be a pretty good indication of how he is feeling these days. Edwards, by the way, has chosen “Black Betty” by Spiderbait.
Selecting the song they are introduced to before BMS Cup races has become a very serious matter with the drivers. Some know immediately which tune they want as their BMS “theme” song, while others take weeks to make up their minds. And then you have the case of Robby Gordon, who had decided to go with Blake Shelton’s “Hillbilly Bone” – until Shelton himself, in a column by ESPN.com’s Marty Smith, said that Gordon should walk out to “Some Beach,” another of his hit songs. Hours after the column ran, Gordon had switched to Shelton’s suggestion.
Ryan Newman, who is getting into the music business with the recent formation of MPR Entertainment Group, has selected a song by Bridgette Tatum, an up-and coming singer. Newman will be introduced to “Hillbilly Rockstar.”
“(My wife) Krissie and I decided to get into the music business last year because it seemed like a natural transition for us,” he said. “A lot of the same strategies that we use to promote me as a driver translate into making Bridgette a bigger star than she already is. I can’t think of a better way for me to promote Bridgette than to be introduced to one of her songs at Bristol Motor Speedway in front of more hundreds of thousands of fans.
“When we did the introductions with the music last year, the fans went wild. There was so much energy there, and the drivers and the fans all had fun. To be able to use one of Bridgette’s songs is something I am really excited about. If you talk to the fans, they will tell you that NASCAR drivers are rockstars in their own right, so I think ‘Hillbilly Rockstar’ is a good fit.”
Four-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is going with a classic, “Ramble On” by Led Zepplin while teammate Jeff Gordon will walk out to “Boom, Boom, Pow” by The Black-Eyed Peas.
Kevin Harvick, a Limp Bizkit aficionado, plans to make his entrance to the strains of “Rollin’” while Clint Bowyer, a great admirer of Elvis Presley, has chosen one of The King of Rock ’n’ Roll’s classics, “Burning Love.”
Kasey Kahne seems to be comparing the tight confines of BMS and the drivers to “Bulls On Parade” by Rage Against The Machines and Bobby Labonte is going country with Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy.” David Ragan, a Georgia boy, identifies with Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.”
Some drivers are standing pat, preferring to make the music they chose last August their Bristol theme songs. Kid Rock’s “Bawitada” will again be rocking the public address system for Tony Stewart, while Elliott Sadler is right at home with the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Kyle Busch still feels that Kanye West’s “Amazing” is the perfect tune for him, while both Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle prefer “Welcome To The Jungle,” perhaps also how they feel about racing at Bristol Motor Speedway, by Guns N’ Roses.
| 
|