In Southern America, two things are hugely popular: NASCAR and country music. So it isn’t uncommon to see both of them go hand-in-hand very often. Country music artists are frequently invited to NASCAR events to perform, and they have carved out a niche for themselves. However, former NASCAR driver Mark Martin has just shattered that trend by going the other way around, and he has rapper Gucci Mane to thank.

As it happens, the 44-year-old rap artist just released audio of his new song, ‘GOAT.’ The NASCAR connection comes in when a part of a podcast featuring Mark Martin and Dan DiOrio appears at the beginning. Apparently, Martin is a big fan of Gucci Mane, and it appears that the Alabama-born rapper is highlighting him. This is honestly the most unexpected NASCAR and music crossover that people have ever seen.

The 65-year-old is highly regarded in the NASCAR community. Although he has never won a NASCAR title in either series, Martin has gone down as one of the greatest drivers to never win a title. Across all three major series, he boasts of a combined 96 wins, with 40 in Cup, 49 in Xfinity and seven Truck wins. Meanwhile, the $14 million-worth rapper boasts of several music award nominations, including a Grammy nomination in 2020.

Mark Martin expressed his admiration for Gucci Mane

As part of the audio clip, Martin told Barstool Sports, “I got on Dr. Dre in about 2002. I evolved from that to Eminem. Then, I had one of my son’s friends, you know they were kids, ask me if I listen to Gucci Mane. I didn’t know who it was. As soon as I found him, it was like crazy. You couldn’t get him hardly anything on iTunes. You had to go to Datpiff.com. It was free all the music was free, but you had to figure out how to download it on your computer and put it over to your phone. I’ma tell you right now, in my opinion, there is no one in the same zip code with Gucci Mane.”

Naturally, many in the NASCAR community were thrilled at this shout-out. Even Mark Martin himself tweeted about featuring on the song, and he was delighted. According to him, he may have lost out on a Cup title, but featuring on the famous artist’s song is on a level of its own.

It is also interesting to note that Martin now joins a fairly elite group of NASCAR stars to feature in a song. Before him, there was John Hunter Nemechek, who cameoed in Luke Combs’ Hurricane. Even before that, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace were prominently featured in a music video of Post Malone’s Motley Crew. Then there was a small appearance from Danica Patrick on the Maroon 5 song, Girls Like You.

NASCAR fans could not contain their excitement on the special cameo

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Given that the Roush Racing legend was a big Gucci Mane fan, some commented on what he must be feeling. One fan observed, “I could imagine this is a way bigger deal to Mark Martin than people realize.” Other fans did not have a Mark Martin-Gucci Mane collaboration on their bingo cards, “I’ve lived and seen it all.” Of course, there were many who marveled at this casual flex, “Mark Martin really is THAT guy”

All in all, the general vibe was that people loved the inclusion, with some saying, “This is awesome hahaha.” Another fan simply gushed, “Massive W.” After all, who wouldn’t be excited to feature in a music video? Additionally, when The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck broke the news, some fans were a bit bummed out. Someone lamented, “Disappointed your rap did not make the cut.”

All in all, it must be a surreal experience for Mark Martin to be immortalized in such a manner. This song is also another step towards NASCAR broadening its horizon and branching out to other music genres. Sure, country music isn’t going anywhere, but it would be great for the sport to explore different genres and attract more fans.