After an awful race at the Sonoma Raceway road course last year, it’s finally celebration time for Martin Truex Jr. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver drove down victory lane, securing his second win of the season at the Toyota/Save Mart 350. With JGR’s #11 Denny Hamlin snapping the right rear toe link of his Toyota, Truex Jr took the lead of the race on lap 97. Kyle Busch finished second after failing to hunt down the #19 JGR driver during the final 14 laps of the race.
While Truex Jr’s spectacular finish was all that anyone could talk about, DJ Diesel’s post-race concert quickly stole the limelight. While most were excited to see the NBA Legend, Shaquille O’Neal, Truex had a very different reaction to the seven-foot giant.
Spinnin’ all our favorite tracks 🎧#NASCAR | #ToyotaSaveMart350 pic.twitter.com/9V6MbRaiEL
— Sonoma Raceway (@RaceSonoma) June 12, 2023
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Shaquille O’Neal With His Usual Antics Took Martin Truex Jr by Surprise
The post-race gig was a welcome addition to this year’s Sonoma Raceway event. Fans were in for a treat as they danced to the tunes of Shaquille O’Neal’s alter ego ‘DJ Diesel’. Sharing the stage with Shaq Diesel was JGR’s race winner, Truex Jr.
They had a wholesome chat, and the #19 driver was left dumbfounded, as he had no idea that the Former Lakers’ star was a DJ.
While re-sharing one of NASCAR’s Twitter posts from this past Sunday, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic Motorsports, revealed Truex Jr’s experience of O’Neal taking the stage.
“He’s killing it out there. It’s like a club,” Martin Truex Jr said, as per Gluck.
He even went on to say that Shaq O’Neal was “very nice” and spoke on the duo’s wholesome chat about the time O’Neal raced Dale Earnhardt Jr on his show ‘Shaq Vs.’
In case you are unaware, the 4× NBA champion, among many of his post-retirement ventures, had a reality television show where he, being one of the greatest athletes on earth, challenged other sportsmen at their game.
Needless to say, he didn’t win a lot.
In the episode featuring Dale Jr, the two legends of their sport went head-to-head at the Concord Speedway. As one would expect, the former driver won the race. But the surprising bit was that he managed to do so despite starting a lap down from Shaq.
Martin said he and Shaq talked about that "Shaq Vs." show with Dale Jr. And said Shaq was very nice, but Martin didn't know he was a DJ. "He's killing it out there. It's like a club," Martin said. https://t.co/4fJV7foSSw
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) June 11, 2023
If you too are surprised like Truex to see Shaq DJ a big crowd, we’ll let us tell you, this isn’t Shaquille O’Neal’s first rodeo behind the turntables.
Shaq: The Only Athlete With a Platinum-Selling Album
Revving up the crowd with electronic dance music at the Sonoma Raceway, the ‘Welcome to the Playhouse’ hitmaker is not new to the music scene. Having done collaborations with legendary DJ Steve Aoki and many others, ‘The Diesel’ cemented his place in the music industry with his 2013 rap album that went platinum on the billboards.
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His dance music debut at TomorrowWorld 2015 was the first time O’Neal performed for thousands of fans. Since then, ‘DJ Diesel’ launched his own festival series: ‘Shaq’s Fun House’ in 2018, followed by ‘Shaq’s Super Bowl Fun House’ with performances and appearances from numerous artists.
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Releasing his latest single ‘Bang Your Head’ in a collaboration with Hairitage, DJ Diesel is all fired to entertain fans at the approaching summer music festival season.
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