Stood out on the track just like she did in life.
As we’ve seen from the tributes that have been pouring in since her passing, the legendary Dolly Parton left behind a legacy that extends far beyond country music. Whether it was her Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library promoting childhood literacy or her Dollywood theme park creating thousands of jobs for her community, it’s hard to find someone who wasn’t touched by the country music icon.
Even NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick has a Dolly Parton story, after driving a car sponsored by her brands early in his career.
The bright pink car hit the track during the 2019 Alsco 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, not far away from Dolly’s hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. It was Reddick’s second full season in what was then known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the #2 car for Richard Childress Racing. And it turned out to be a memorable day, even though Dolly wasn’t able to make it to the race.
We sat down with Tyler after Dolly’s passing and asked him about driving her car, and he recalled the experience of driving the hot pink car – and even donning her signature blonde wig:
“We got all into it with the firesuit. We had a firesuit for that race. I wore a wig that day. You know, I just I got all into it. I had a lot of fun. So, never got to meet her, but it was a lot of fun that we got to do the whole thing and see she was as excited about it as we were.”
It was announced before the race that Dolly would be making a special appearance, but unfortunately she ended up not being able to make it to the race. Dolly, though, made sure to send her well-wishes to Tyler and the RCR team ahead of the race, after Reddick qualified on the front row:
“I think there was a shot she was going to make it. It didn’t work out.
She was bummed she couldn’t make it. She made it a point, she’s like, ‘We got to send like Tyler and the team a video.’ And so I remember I’m sitting there race day morning on on Saturday for the the Bristol race. One of the folks at RCR is like, ‘Hey, we got this video from Dolly. She wanted you to see it.’
I can’t remember word for word, but she was excited for the race. She was glad we qualified well. She was bummed she couldn’t make it, and she was hoping we go out there and win the race.”
Well Dolly was no doubt proud, because her car ran up front all day with Reddick ultimately finishing second to Christopher Bell:
“I remember I ran second a lot of that race. … It was one of my better showings early for me at Bristol, earlier on in my career. So, it was a really fun day. I really wish we could have won the race.”
I asked Reddick if he still had the video from Dolly, but apparently it was sent to a member of his team at the time and not directly to him. Dolly did, though, send a message that was played on the broadcast as well to wish the team luck, so maybe it was the same video.
Reddick ended up winning his second consecutive Xfinity Series championship that year, and of course has gone on to become one of the top drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. He and the #45 team will begin their chase for their first Cup Series championship this weekend at Darlington, after already scoring 5 wins in 2026.
There’s no doubt Dolly would love to see him score his first championship after piloting her car all those years ago.
