Current:Home > NewsFormer President Donald Trump attends Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race -Mastery Money Tools
Former President Donald Trump attends Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race
View
Date:2025-04-18 11:38:37
Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States and the presumptive Republican nominee in November's general election, arrived Sunday at NASCAR's Coca Cola 600.
This marks the second time Trump has attended a NASCAR race since February 2020, when he served as grand marshal of the Daytona 500, becoming only the fourth sitting president to do so for a race at Daytona International Speedway.
The Coca Cola 600 is taking place at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. A member of Trump's communications staff posted a video clip of Trump, wearing a dark suit and red hat, waving to the crowd at the speedway Sunday afternoon. Video of Trump's plane flying over the track went viral earlier in the day.
According to Jonathan Coleman, senior director of communications for Charlotte Motor Speedway, this is the first time in the track's history that a current or former President has attended a race at the venue. In 1994, former President Bill Clinton visited the speedway as part of a Ford Mustang 30th anniversary event, but he did not attend a race.
In 2020, Trump carried North Carolina, which is expected to remain a key battleground state in the upcoming general election. Trump won the state in 2020 with 50.1% of the vote, beating President Joe Biden by nearly 75,000 votes.
The Coca Cola 600, which takes place annually during Memorial Day weekend as a key event in the NASCAR Cup Series, coincided with the 2024 North Carolina Republican Party Convention that concluded hours before the race, in Greensboro. Though not a confirmed guest during the week leading up to the convention, Trump gave a brief speech Friday via a phone call, when his son Eric put him on speaker when Eric was on stage addressing the crowd, according to the Greensboro News and Record.
Trump's visit to the Coca Cola 600 also coincides with the end of his hush money trial in New York, with closing arguments scheduled to begin Tuesday. He is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege Trump disguised reimbursements to former aide Michael Cohen and is accused of violating campaign finance laws when he paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016 to stay quiet about a sexual encounter that allegedly happened a decade earlier.
Back in 2020, when Trump served as grand marshal of the Daytona 500, that role included giving what’s commonly described as the most famous words in motor sports: "Gentlemen, start your engines."
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi, Kinsey Crowley, Michelle R. Martinelli
veryGood! (136)
Related
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Broncos celebrate the safety dance in the first half with pair of safeties against the Seahawks
- County official pleads guilty to animal cruelty in dog’s death
- A mural honoring scientists hung in Pfizer’s NYC lobby for 60 years. Now it’s up for grabs
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- DirecTV files complaint against Disney with FCC as impasse enters 2nd week
- Week 2 college football predictions: Expert picks for Michigan-Texas and every Top 25 game
- Hope for North America’s Most Endangered Bird
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Recreational marijuana sales begin on North Carolina tribal land, drug illegal in state otherwise
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- School districts race to invest in cooling solutions as classrooms and playgrounds heat up
- Man charged in glass bottle attack on Jewish students in Pittsburgh now accused in earlier attack
- With father of suspect charged in Georgia shooting, will more parents be held responsible?
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Grief, pain, hope and faith at church services following latest deadly school shooting
- Joy in Mud Bowl: Football tournament celebrates 50 years of messy fun
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Dark Matter
Recommendation
IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
Deion Sanders after Nebraska loss: 'No idea' why Colorado had such a hard time
Why an ominous warning didn't stop Georgia school shooting
Slain Dallas police officer remembered as ‘hero’ during funeral service
Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
Dolphins' Tyreek Hill detained by police hours before season opener
Week 1 fantasy football rankings: PPR, half-PPR and standard leagues
East Timor looks to the pope’s visit as a reward after 20 years of fragile stability