Hardy’s Newest Tattoo Is NASCAR Driver Martin Truex Jr.’s Number — Inked by Truex Himself
True story: Hardy got a tattoo of NASCAR driver Martin Truex Jr.'s racing number, and the tattoo was inked by Truex himself — who'd never tattooed anyone before — using Brantley Gilbert's tattoo gun.
Sure, it sounds pretty unlikely, but Hardy spoke to Taste of Country Nights backstage at the 2022 ACM Awards and explained how the whole thing went down.
"He raced in the Daytona 500, and then the next day, me and my buddy FaceTimed him," Hardy explained. At the time, he was on a songwriting retreat with Gilbert — his collaborator on "The Worst Country Song of All Time," which also gets a vocal assist from Toby Keith — and the gang was working on some new material in Texas.
Meanwhile, Truex Jr. already had some country connections. For one, he knows Cole Swindell, another frequent collaborator of Hardy's: The pair got a chance to get to know each other at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 in 2017. So Hardy and Truex Jr. had some mutual friends, and he decided to invite the NASCAR driver out hunting during the retreat.
"We said, 'You wanna come down to Texas and hunt pigs with us?' And he was like, 'I'll do it.' He literally hopped on a jet and came down there while we were down there," Hardy relates. During Truex Jr.'s visit, Hardy got another idea.
"He had never given a tattoo before. Brantley had his tattoo gun, and I said, 'If you'll tattoo your own NASCAR number in the font, I'll get it.' And he was like, 'All right.' And he did," the singer continues.
That's how Hardy ended up with Truex Jr.'s NASCAR number — 19 — tattooed on his thigh. Though the driver was a novice tattoo artist, Hardy says he's actually really impressed with how the ink turned out.
"It looks pretty good! I wish I could show you," Hardy continues, but adds that doing so would probably violate the backstage dress code at the ACMs.
"I would have to take my pants off. So, next time," he jokes.
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