Middle Tennessee’s Own Nate Bargatze to Serve as Honorary Pace Car Driver for Ally 400

Hailed as “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up” by The Atlantic magazine and a “Rising Star” by CBS Mornings, Grammy-nominated comedian and podcaster Nate Bargatze is selling out shows around the world, and now he will serve as the honorary pace car driver for the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25. 

“This summer, we will provide the most thrilling entertainment in Nashville with the Ally 400 race weekend,” Nashville Superspeedway general manager Matt Greci said. “There is no better entertainer out there than Nate Bargatze to take part in our remarkable event to bring fans from Middle Tennessee — and across the country and world — together right here at Nashville Superspeedway.” 

An Old Hickory, Tennessee, native, Bargatze followed in the showbiz footsteps of his father, a former clown turned world-class magician, whose influence is seen on his 2015 debut Comedy Central special, “Full Time Magic,” and his debut album, “Yelled at By a Clown,” which reached No. 1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts and was on Billboard’s Top 10 Comedy Charts for weeks.

Bargatze’s half-hour Netflix special, “The Standups,” premiered in 2017, and his first solo one-hour Netflix special, “The Tennessee Kid,” premiered globally with rave reviews in 2019. In 2021, he released his critically acclaimed second Netflix special, “The Greatest Average American,” which received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. Bargatze also released his latest and third one-hour special, “Nate Bargatze: Hello World,” on Amazon Prime, and it now holds the record as Amazon’s most-streamed original comedy special in its first 28 days of viewership.

In 2020, the comedian launched his weekly podcast, “Nateland.” The podcast tackles the meaningless issues that we face day to day and gives listeners a much-needed mental break from fighting the good fight. New episodes release Wednesdays, with video available on his YouTube channel and audio available in podcast stores.

Bargatze’s comedy is clean and relatable, evident by his 12 appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” He also appeared on “Conan” four times and has appeared on Seth Meyers’ and James Corden’s late-night shows. He was a recurring guest on “@midnight” and had his own “Comedy Central Presents” episode in 2011. Off screen, Bargatze was part of “Jimmy Fallon’s Clean-Cut Comedy Tour” and has performed live shows for the troops in Iraq and Kuwait five times. In addition to touring the country as a headliner, Bargatze toured arenas with Chris Rock on his 2017 “Total Blackout Tour.” According to his website, he has performed at SXSW, Oddball Comedy Festival, Sasquatch, Clusterfest and the JFL Montreal Comedy Festival, where he’s received critical acclaim multiple years in a row.

Bargatze was featured as one of Esquire’s “Best New Comedians” by Jim Gaffigan, one of Marc Maron’s “Comedians to Watch” in Rolling Stone, one of Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch” for 2015 and as No. 1 on Vulture’s “50 Comedians You Should Know” in 2015. He also appeared on the cover of Variety’s annual comedy issue in 2022. 

Bargatze is currently on his “The Be Funny Tour” with all new material. For more information, visit NateBargatze.com.

Along with Bargatze’s cameo during the Ally 400, Parker McCollum will perform the official pre-race concert and Old Dominion will serve as grand marshal.

Middle Tennessee’s can’t-miss event of the summer, the Nashville Superspeedway’s race weekend includes the Rackley Roofing 200 Craftsman Truck Series race on June 23, the Tennessee Lottery 250 Xfinity Series race on June 24 and the Ally 400 Cup Series race on June 25 and under the lights in prime time.

Call 866-RACETIX or visit NashvilleSuperspeedway.com to get your tickets today.

NSS PR