Daytona 500: Country star Trace Adkins champions patriotism, country music at NASCAR race

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Trace Adkins: NASCAR, country music relationship still 'strong'

Country music star Trace Adkins previews his performance of the National Anthem and talks patriotism at NASCAR's Daytona 500 championship.

NASCAR’s Daytona 500 championship race is known for bolstering the American spirit and country music star Trace Adkins credited the fans for prioritizing patriotism on "Fox & Friends Weekend."

"It’s the fans," he said. "These are hard-working, middle class, mostly just good hard-working folks that love fast cars. And they like to drive too fast themselves, probably."

While other sports have a history of pulling politics into the game, Adkins was adamant that "you won’t see" any behavior of the sort at a NASCAR race.

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The singer mentioned how the relationship between NASCAR and country music has always been "strong" and still is. Adkins' own relationship with NASCAR grew after moving from Louisiana to Tennessee in 1992, at the beginning of his career, when he realized race fans were "serious" about the sport.

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 10: Trace Adkins sings the National Anthem before a game between the Tennessee Titans and the Kansas City Chiefs at Nissan Stadium on November 10, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee.  The Titans defeated the Chiefs 35-32.  (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

"It didn't take me long to fall right in with that crowd," he said. "That’s when I started getting more involved personally with NASCAR – going to races, doing the anthem, being the marshal and having a race. I had my own race one year – the Chrome 300. And that was when my daddy finally said, ‘Well, you finally made it.’"

The multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated recording artist will be performing the national anthem at the 2022 Daytona 500, for which he admitted even he’s "a little nervous."

Richard Petty stands next to a replica race car before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack) (AP Newsroom)

"Singing the anthem is the only thing that still makes me nervous," he said. "It doesn’t really matter how big the crowd is. It’s just the fact that you can’t play around with the lyrics on that one. If you mess it up, you’re on YouTube forever."

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