Country music star Luke Combs continues to show his love of NASCAR. This time, he dropped a Daytona 500-themed track as part of a 22-song album, The Way I Am.
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A video for the new song, Daytona 499, released on Thursday at midnight, marking the official release date for the new album. Instead of a high-concept clip, this video just featured footage of Combs recording the vocals for this NASCAR-influenced breakup song in the studio.
The song started with lyrics about the final lap of a big race and going through Turns 1, 2, and 3. However, the chorus showed that the meaning went much deeper than simply talking about the biggest race of the season.
"We coulda been Earnhardt In that 3 car down in victory lane," Combs sang during the chorus. "Standing on the hood with that Goodwrench, wasting good champagne. We coulda been burning out instead of burning out before that finish line. But we were Daytona 499."
The song continued with Combs singing about how he and the girl in the song had moved too fast. They had enough tires to win the race, but they didn't have enough gas. They didn't hold the lead, and they didn't get to celebrate a win like Dale Earnhardt in the 1998 Daytona 500.
This song is far from the first time that Combs has shown his love of NASCAR. He actually opened this new album with Back in the Saddle. The music video for this song featured Dale Earnhardt Jr. ripping around a short track in a Late Model while Richard Petty watched.
Combs also appeared in a video for GQ to show the essential items for his daily life. This collection featured an Earnhardt hat with a flame design overlapping the No. 3.
NASCAR is well aware of the country performer's appreciation for stock car racing. The series has brought him into the fold multiple times for high-profile events.
He served as the honorary pace car driver for the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in 2024, a race featuring his logo on Bubba Wallace's Toyota. He performed the pre-race concerts ahead of the 2021 and 2022 Daytona 500s.
