Way back in the mid-1980s, an entire album of country music was put together that featured only NASCAR drivers and icons singing – one of them being the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.
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A project commissioned in part with Piedmont Airlines, the album titled World Series of Country Music: Stock Car Racing’s Entertainers Of The Year, Volume One was brought to life with more than 20 tracks that all had a famous NASCAR name singing the verses to these brand new songs.
There's another one called "World Series of Country Music." That one even has Dale Earnhardt the Original on it.
— PattyKay Lilley (@MamaPKL) April 15, 2018
Alongside Kyle Petty, Ricky Rudd, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Richard Childress, and more, Dale Sr. cut a country music track for the album that would do what many had tried to do before: blend the world of NASCAR with country music.
The project was a first of its kind to become a success, selling more than 20,000 copies in the first few months of availability. The project’s lead, Mike Hopkins, revealed to Sports Illustrated that none of the drivers he approached said no – especially after hearing how good their colleagues sounded!
“They’d be listening to a tape of Dale Earnhardt or Ron Bouchard,” said Hopkins, “and they’d say, ‘Hey, if you can get him to sound that good, maybe there’s hope for me!’ “
Even one driver, Kyle Petty, got some future work from his performance on the album. The Nashville Network (TNN) loved his recording so much that they invited him to perform live on their show, Nashville Now.
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While Dale Sr. didn’t ink a record deal from his song, “Hard Charger,” he did get a lot of engines revving.
Check out Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s unforgettable country song below and let us know what you think.