Getty Images Toby Keith performing in Nashville in 2002.
People from the world of NASCAR paid tribute on social media to Toby Keith, who died February 5 at age 62 following a battle with stomach cancer.
Keith was a big NASCAR fan (he loved wrestling and football, too) whose earnest, heartfelt songs about American life and the nation’s greatness blared from loudspeakers and campers at NASCAR events. His 1999 rendition of the national anthem, performed at Phoenix Raceway, embodied his sense of patriotism and mutual affection for NASCAR.
“I just shed a tear of joy. Thought of Toby and Dale having a Red Solo Cup toast,” Fox Sports commentator and two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip posted on X, referencing Dale Earnhardt, who died in 2001.
I just shed a tear of joy. Thought of Toby and Dale having a Red Solo Cup toast.
“Spent most of the day driving today. Wasn’t on the phone much and just sat there listening to Toby Keith. What an awesome person, talent, and proud American curtesy [sic] of the red, white, and blue he was,” Fox Sports commentator and semi-retired driver Clint Bowyer posted.
Spent most of the day driving today. Wasn’t on the phone much and just sat there listening to @tobykeith. What an awesome person, talent, and proud American curtesy of the red,white, and blue he was..🙏
Erik Jones, who drives No. 43, posted: “Waking up to news of Toby Keith passing sure hurts. Lot of great memories listening to his music with so many great friends.”
Waking up to news of Toby Keith passing sure hurts. Lot of great memories listening to his music with so many great friends.
Toby Keith Was Once a Grand Marshal at NASCAR Event
As much as NASCAR loved Toby Keith, he loved NASCAR. Certainly, NASCAR people.
Keith, who had 20 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country charts was the grand marshal at the 2013 Ford Ecoboost 400 at Miami, where he famously prefaced the “most famous words in motorsports” by saying, “Time to get in, sit down, shut up, and hold on! Drivers, start your engines!”
In a September 2023 tribute to Keith, who a year earlier had announced he was in treatment for stomach cancer, Team Penske released the PPG Paint Scheme for its three cars racing in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. All three cars — driven by Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric — featured “Toby Keith” painted on the name rails.
Team PenskeTeam Penske Paint Scheme Preview, September 2023, featuring Toby Keith
‘I Love NASCAR’ Song Parodied a Toby Keith Hit
NASCAR — certainly NASCAR fans — and Toby Keith proved a happy pairing. In 2004, country artist Cledus T. Judd remade Keith’s “I Love This Bar” into “I Love NASCAR,” and Keith famously made a cameo in the video for the parody song.
At one point, Judd sings: “I like football. I like my wrestlin’. I like a good game of air hockey. I like some ping-pong now an’ then. How about you, Toby?”
Keith appears on TV singing, “I love NASCAR! It’s my kind of race. Just to see Big E back on the track, would put a smile on every face. No one drove a car quite like Earnhardt. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, I love NASCAR.”
According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Toby Keith collected cars, in addition to hanging with NASCAR drivers. In May 2022, in one of Keith’s final performances, he headlined a veterans tribute at Daytona International Speedway. A shrewd businessman worth hundreds of millions, Keith also bred horses.
This mash-up of Toby Keith’s “Made in America” with NASCAR footage is likely to garner thousands more views.
In the early 1980s, Keith also spent a couple years playing for the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers, affiliated with the original USFL.