Sunday, April 24, is race day in Talladega for the Geico 500. The Saturday before the race, April 23, Alabama native and country music star Riley Green will take center stage for the annual infield concert.
Green, from Jacksonville, will be the headliner for the weekend’s entertainment. His other appearance at Talladega was in the fall of 2019 for the 50th anniversary of the raceway — the same year of the release of his first full-length album “Different ‘Round Here.”
“Playing at the Talladega Superspeedway in 2019 was a dream come true for me,” Green said of his first performance at Talladega.
Admission to the concert is free with the purchase of a Geico 500 ticket. The Saturday Night Infield Concert festivities, located at the intersection of Eastaboga and Talladega Blvds., are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Riley learned songwriting and performing from his grandfather Bufford Green, who ran the Golden Saw Music Hall. Getting that type of hands-on training helped Riley to produce two platinum-certified hits on his first album.
Riley was named the MusicRow’s breakout artist of the year in 2020 and has toured with some of the biggest names in country music.
“Ever since I was a kid, we would drive down to the racetrack on Saturday for the concert that night and stay for the Sunday race,” he stated. “Some of my favorite memories as a kid were watching Dale Earnhardt Sr. with my granddaddy on Sunday afternoons. I am really looking forward to getting the opportunity to come back again and play at that iconic place.”
Before the engines are fired up on Sunday and someone realizes a dream of a victory lap around Talladega, refresh your Southern roots with a local talent carrying on the great tradition of “three chords and the truth” as he celebrates his own victory lap performing on the stage he once looked upon from the infield.
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