Every racer’s favorite recording artist, PJ North, will perform at the PDRA Super Strip Nationals at National Trail Raceway in Columbus Ohio. The concert will be held in the track pavilion on Friday, July 20th after the third qualifying session.
North just finished up a heavy tour schedule, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) Man and Woman of the Year Gala. This event honors the fundraisers who spend 10 weeks raising as much money as they can for the LLS.
“A good friend of mine Cody Weaver was one of the volunteers who was in the running for Man of the Year, and he put us up for the entertainment sponsorship,” explained North. “He’s a great friend of mine and a huge proponent of my music, so I was really excited when we could help out and donate our time for a good cause. I have heard a lot about the LLS because they have branches in major cities, and friends of mine here in Nashville were a big part of the Nashville Gala. I saw what kind of effort went into it, and the money that was raised, so I was just really excited to be able to offer up our band as a donation and be a part of this great cause.
“The Charlotte Gala raised nearly two million dollars that night alone outside of what the volunteers already raised. And we capped it off by playing for all the guests! A really great time was had by all in Charlotte, and none of it was possible without the PDRA and Tommy and Judy Franklin, who came on board as sponsors of the sound equipment we needed to make it happen for the 1000 plus guests in attendance.”
One good deed deserves another so North and the Franklins worked out the opportunity for a concert at the Super Strip Nationals. North will be sharing some of his biggest hits, including his brand new single, “She Was”.
“I wrote and recorded ‘She Was’ here in Nashville with two writers Jason Early and Foster Ferrel,” informed North. “The song was produced by my close friend Michael Mechling and Foster at Forty One 15 Studio. In conjunction with its release, for my racing song fans, I offered a free demo version of a song I wrote and pitched to NHRA called ‘Weekend Warriors’ for fans that bought or streamed ‘She Was’ and shared it on social media. It’s a pretty exciting time for my band and I.”
As a devoted racer himself, North creatively merges his two passions – music and drag racing – whenever he can. Several of his songs feature drag race references, and he’s performed at multiple PDRA and NHRA events. He’ll be competing at the Super Strip Nationals in the Edelbrock Bracket Bash.
“Racing has been up and down this year for our team. My Team Racepak/VP Racing Fuels/Hoosier Racing Tire dragster has been stellar, but I just haven’t been able to close the deal this year. My stocker got a few upgrades over the winter so we are working on it, and my wife, Amanda, is racing it and trying to get it to come back around after working out a few kinks. I hope to turn my season around at the PDRA event in Columbus at my old stomping grounds National Trail Raceway with my dragster!”
PJ North music can be purchased on iTunes. Visit www.thepjnorth.com for more information. PDRA Super Strip Nationals event information can be found at www.pdra660.com.
This story was originally published on July 8, 2018.