Before NASCAR’s finest took the green flag at the Daytona 500 on Sunday (Feb. 17), one of country music’s finest, Jake Owen, took the stage to get things warmed up. He got the crowd revved with a pre-race performance of his song "Down to the Honkytonk."

While this performance was the only one televised during the pre-race activities on Fox, the country music hitmaker also stuck around to perform such other favorites as “Beachin’,” “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” and “American Country Love Song,” according to news reports.

Just the opportunity to play a small part in the race seemed huge to the Florida native, who shared his thoughts on being at the famed Florida track on his social media pages.

“To grow up a Florida kid and have the honor of playing the @disupdates Daytona 500 is hard to put into words,” Owen wrote on Instagram alongside a pic of him on the infield stage. “So thankfully @matthewpaskert snapped this photo. I think this says it all. Thanks to @nascar and all the fans for allowing me to entertain y'all on such a special day.”

A little bit later in the night, Owen also shared a black-and-white photo of himself sitting against the wall at that famous Daytona International Speedway finish line.

On Monday (Feb. 18), Owen continued to reminisce about the memorable day, sending out a tweet about a particular emotional moment during the pre-race ceremonies in which he was given the gift of a hand-painted guitar by renowned NASCAR artist Sam Bass, who passed away earlier in the week.

“It’s hard to put into word how much this guitar means to me,” Owen said on his Twitter page. "Sam Bass was one of kind. This guitar is one of a kind. Thank you @sambassartist for your amazing work and beautiful life. I’m forever grateful for this gift. God bless ya Sam.”

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