Fire on Fridays: What Songs Should NASCAR Cup Drivers Walk Out to at Bristol?

One of the things that has made the NASCAR Cup Series’ visits to Bristol Motor Speedway memorable is the drivers choosing the songs they walk out to during driver introductions.

There have been some great song selections in the past, from Kyle Busch at his peak villainhood coming out to “All I Do Is Win” to Paul Menard entering as a heavy metal version of “Baby Shark” blared over the speakers.

But a lot of the time, drivers enter to some generic country song, popular song or something that doesn’t make a lot of sense to the fans.

So, I’m here to help. Here’s a list of what every Cup driver should but definitely won’t enter to at Bristol this Sunday.

No. 1 – Ross Chastain: “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” by Eddie Rabbitt

Chastain was once on track to become the face of NASCAR after winning a handful of races, pulling off the Hail Melon to make the Championship 4 and punching Noah Gragson. But now, he hasn’t won in nearly a year, only has one top 10 so far in 2026 and has been getting shown up by Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen.

No. 2 – Austin Cindric: “The Garbage Truck Song” by Blippi

He looks like Blippi, and on the intermediate tracks, that No. 2 car has looked like a garbage truck at points this year.

No. 3 – Austin Dillon: “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” by Travis Tritt

It’s a long way to Richmond Raceway, where Dillon seems to get his annual win. And now with win-and-you’re-in gone, that win won’t get him into The Chase.

No. 4 – Noah Gragson: “Here For a Good Time” by George Strait

As one of the most fun and unique personalities in the Cup garage, Gragson is a good time wherever he goes. But he’s currently 29th in points and was 34th last year. If the performance doesn’t improve, he may not be here for a long time.

No. 5 – Kyle Larson: “It’s Been Awhile” by Staind

Despite winning the 2025 championship, it’s been awhile since Larson has been to Cup victory lane — 11 months, to be exact. He’s been the third best Hendrick Motorsports driver to start the year, and we’re all waiting for the Larson of old to start dominating again.

No. 6 – Brad Keselowski: “Walk” by Foo Fighters

Keselowski literally learned to walk again after breaking his femur in the offseason. More than that, he’s been way more competitive than he was last year and so far has his best average finish since he left Team Penske.

No. 7 – Daniel Suarez: “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” by Phil Collins

Suarez seemed on his way out of the Cup Series after Trackhouse let him go, and he signed a one-year deal with Spire Motorsports, but take a look at him now. Against all odds, he’s off to a solid start to the season and ahead of two other Trackhouse drivers in points.

No. 8 – Kyle Busch: “Somebody Kill Me” by Adam Sandler

Busch is off to the worst start of his career, and he seems absolutely miserable every single week. I think he’s ready for someone to put him out of his misery at Richard Childress Racing so he can go to a different team.

No. 9 – Chase Elliott: “Back in the Saddle” by Aerosmith

After a few years of not winning or being a threat as often as he had been, it appears Elliott is finally back in the saddle again. His win at Martinsville Speedway was the earliest he had ever won in a season, and that probably won’t be his last in 2026.

No. 10 – Ty Dillon: “Chop Suey!” by System of a Down

The younger Dillon has to be asking his father (or grandfather) why have you forsaken me to a Kaulig Racing team that isn’t even getting support from Chevrolet.

No. 11 – Denny Hamlin: “The Winner” by Bobby Bare

Hamlin is Tiger Man McCool in this song. He’s won tons of fights (or races) over the years, but has a laundry list of injuries he’s suffered and/or is currently dealing with, has had a number of penalties/fines and plenty of other things have taken their toll on him through the years. Now, he’s giving advice to younger drivers who want to be “The Winner” like him.

No. 12 – Ryan Blaney: “Knock Me Down” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

While this song is about RHCP frontman Anthony Kiedis asking his friends to knock him down if they see him doing drugs or acting arrogant, it applies to Blaney because his pit crew, team or just pure bad luck tend to knock him down whenever he gets too high on the leaderboard.

No. 16 – AJ Allmendinger: “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus

No Chevy support for Kaulig? No problem for Allmendinger. His pure talent is carrying that car to a top-20 spot in points. I’d say give him his flowers, but like Cyrus, he’s already bought them for himself.

No. 17 – Chris Buescher: “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey

I was trying to avoid stereotypical sports songs, but you can’t stop believing in Buescher’s talent. Even though he only has six wins through his first 10 Cup seasons, it feels like he could break out at any moment and rattle off a few.

No. 19 – Chase Briscoe: “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes

Why has everything that can go wrong went wrong so far this year for Briscoe? He’s only got two top 10s so far this year and sits 21st in points after ending last season as one of the hottest drivers in Cup.

No. 20 – Christopher Bell: “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica

His name is Bell and he’s the most recent winner at Bristol. Just come out to something awesome. “Carol of the Bells” would also be a spectacular choice.

No. 21 – Josh Berry: “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots

Berry is the No. 21 pilot, and with the way the season started and him racing for a job, he’s probably been a little stressed out.

No. 22 – Joey Logano: “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5

A three-time Cup champion in the old elimination-style playoff format, Logano is probably wanting that format back as he sits 12th in points.

No. 23 – Bubba Wallace: “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac

Wallace was off to such a great start this season. He was second in points, but he’s now 11th after getting caught up in a wreck at Darlington and wrecking himself at Martinsville Speedway. Those two weeks were his landslide.

No. 24 – William Byron: “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” by Jack Johnson

Byron and the rest of the Bowtie drivers are sitting, waiting and wishing for their teams to hurry up and find speed with the new Chevy nose. The No. 24 has been good, but the Toyotas have been better.

No. 34 – Todd Gilliland: “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers

Oh, my Love’s Travel Stops, my darling. I had to make a love pun somewhere, and Jesse Love isn’t in this race. Plus, everyone seems to love Gilliland.

No. 35 – Riley Herbst: “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt

Herbst pushed his 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick to the Daytona 500 win, but he still can’t make the team love him. Just a few days later, rumors surfaced that he would be out of that car next year.

No. 38 – Zane Smith: “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne

Smith is the best thing to ever happen to Front Row Motorsports. He’s the only car from its stable in the top 25 in points and was right there fighting for a spot in The Chase before a bad day at Martinsville.

No. 41 – Cole Custer: “Remember When” by Alan Jackson

Remember when Custer won the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship and was a dominant force in that series? Or when he won at Kentucky Speedway as a Cup rookie? Now he’s driving in equipment that’s a far cry from those days, and you forget he’s even in some of these races.

No. 42 – John Hunter Nemechek: “Hold My Hand” by Hootie & The Blowfish

I’m doing some Hootie for both Legacy Motor Club drivers because lead singer Darius Rucker recently became a part owner of the team. Now the whole team will hold Rucker’s and Jimmie Johnson‘s hands as they try to put out some faster racecars.

No. 43 – Erik Jones: “Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie & The Blowfish

Hootie for both LMC drivers thanks to Rucker joining the fold. Plus, Jones has been driving the No. 43 for six years now, so it’s clear that he only wants to be with this team.

No. 45 – Tyler Reddick: “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day

Reddick has such a great points lead that he should easily make the playoffs and has a great shot at the No. 1 seed. Essentially, you could wake him up when September ends, and then he can go try to close the deal for his first Cup title.

No. 47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” by Kip Moore

Stenhouse decided he wanted to go NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing for the first time this year. He made his first two career starts in the series at the start of the season and is back in Trucks again this weekend at Bristol. I guess there was something about a truck that caught his attention.

No. 48 – Alex Bowman: The “Welcome Back, Kotter” Theme Song by John Sebastian

Hey, Bowman was medically cleared to race this weekend. You love to see it.

No. 51 – Cody Ware: “Last Kiss” by Wayne Cochran (But the Pearl Jam version)

Where, oh where could Cody Ware be? Well, he’s still last in points among full-time drivers, but he’s hanging onto the lead lap a lot more now than he used to. That means you wonder where he is because you don’t see the leader going by him every so often these days.

No. 54 – Ty Gibbs: “Thank You” by Dido

Gibbs should be thanking former Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director Chris Gabehart. Ever since it was revealed via the court documents from JGR’s lawsuit against Gabehart and Spire Motorsports that Ty Gibbs wasn’t showing up to meetings and wasn’t being held accountable like other team members, the No. 54 driver has been one of the best in Cup, rallying off five-straight top-six finishes. Whether that is merely a coincidence or not, whatever changes happened since Gabehart and JGR split, Gibbs should be grateful for them.

No. 60 – Ryan Preece: “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra

Hey, Preece still makes jokes about being an astronaut after his two flips at Daytona International Speedway. He posted this on April 1.

No. 66 – Chad Finchum: “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)” by AC/DC

Finchum and Garage 66 aren’t full time, but they entered Bristol this weekend, so he deserves a song too. This team has done things the Carl Long way to get back to the top NASCAR national touring series.

No. 71 – Michael McDowell: “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John

Through all the years and the ups and downs — being rushed to Cup with Michael Waltrip Racing when it was bad, starting-and-parking for years and building FRM up to a Daytona 500-winning team — McDowell is still standing and in the best situation in his Cup career with Spire.

No. 77 – Carson Hocevar: “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit

Even without Hocevar doing anything egregious at Martinsville, we’re still at zero weeks without a Hocevar incident thanks to Wallace trying to wreck him. There could be more this weekend trying to pay him back for prior instances, or he could wreak some havoc en route to a good finish. Whether stuff is broken this weekend because of Hocevar or not, this song still encapsulates the excitement and sense of anarchy he has brought with him to the Cup level.

No. 88 – Connor Zilisch: “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2

Racing on Saturdays in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series came easily to Zilisch, but he’s since been punched in the mouth in his racing on Sundays in Cup. He has five finishes outside the top 25 in seven races. Zilisch will eventually get the hang of it and have some good fortune go his way, but for now, welcome to the big leagues.

No. 97 – Shane van Gisbergen: “Circles” by Nonpoint

It’d be too easy to choose “Down Under” by Men at Work, but van Gisbergen is from New Zealand, not Australia, and rather than choosing a song solely based on where he’s from, “Circles” is better because he’s gotten so much better at his weakness in NASCAR: oval racing. It really is like when Happy Gilmore says, “Happy learned how to putt.”

Plus, why not end the list with a song from one of the greatest video games of all time: NASCAR Thunder 2003?