DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jimmie Johnson and his Legacy Motor Club race team welcomed Creed to NASCAR with arms wide open. So singer Scott Stapp and the rest of the multi-platinum rock band filled them — they handed Johnson an autographed guitar.
Johnson, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, joked he quickly needed lessons.
Turns out, with Creed on board, they took Johnson higher in the No. 84 Toyota on the scoring pylon and now the band and the seven-time NASCAR champion are in the Daytona 500.
Johnson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last month, raced his way into the Daytona 500 with a three-wide move through the final turn of Thursday night’s first qualifying race.
Legacy Motor Club reached an associate sponsorship deal with the band to give Creed a spot on the Toyota for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Creed decals face the “Creed Tour In-Car” cameras that are plastered inside the car.
“I guess we’re giving him some inspiration on the inside, as well,” Stapp said Thursday inside the Daytona International Speedway garage. “Get him pumped up.”
Johnson’s connections with Gibson guitars and music industry relationships, including entertainment giant Live Nation, were instrumental in landing rock band Guns N’ Roses last season on the hood of Legacy driver Erik Jones’ No. 43 Chevrolet. Johnson said the GNR diecast was NASCAR’s second best-seller last season.
Jimmie Johnson walks down pit road before the first of two Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Credit: AP/Terry Renna
Jones crashed and finished 28th.
“We’re going to change that,” Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti said.
Legacy ambassador Richard Petty, the only other living seven-time NASCAR champion, stuck “Petty 75” patches on Stapp, Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips.
Creed is part of the celebrity flavor at the Daytona 500 that this year includes honorary pace car driver Miss America 2024…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply