It’s not every day that a music video by a multi-platinum recording artist features a Late Model Stock Car turning laps at a short track, but that’s what is happening in the new music video released Friday by country musician Luke Combs for his new single “Back in the Saddle.”

Combs dropped the music video for “Back in the Saddle” on Friday after teasing its release for the last week. The video was shot at Tri-County Speedway, a 4/10-mile oval in Hudson, North Carolina, and it features a plain black No. 8 Late Model Stock Car being driven by none other than NASCAR Hall of Famer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty also makes a cameo in the video.

The two-time CMA “Entertainer of the Year” winner grew up in North Carolina and is an avid race fan. In 2021 and 2022 he played the pre-race concert ahead of the Daytona 500.

“I grew up around it. Grew up watching it with my grandfather,” said Combs before the 2022 Daytona 500. “It was always something that I loved. And country music and NASCAR, man, it just kinda goes together.”

Earnhardt Jr. is no stranger to music videos or the music industry in general. This is at least the seventh music video appearance for the two-time Daytona 500 champion as he also appeared in videos for artists like Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, 3 Doors Down, Nickleback, and Jay-Z just to name a few. 

In addition to his music video appearances, Cole Swindell released a song titled “Dale Jr.” last month, and there was also an Indie band named “Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr” that has since rebranded themselves as simply “Jr Jr.”

But the video shoot most likely was valuable for Earnhardt Jr. for a little bit of testing in addition to the fun of being in another music video. 

Earnhardt Jr., will be racing on the recently repaved Tri-County Speedway for the first time later this year with the zMAX CARS Tour on Saturday, October 4. The race will be Earnhardt Jr.’s fourth CARS Tour race of the season. He is scheduled to compete at Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina on August 16, as well as at Florence Motor Speedway on Friday, August 29. He also raced at Cordele Motor Speedway in Georgia earlier this year with the CARS Tour.

All three upcoming CARS Tour race that Dale Jr. is competing in will be streamed live on FloRacing. If you're not already a FloRacing subscriber, click here to sign up today.