Chase Rice is a major name in country music with millions of record sales, but it took a lot of time and even more effort to reach this point in his career. This journey even included some time on a pit crew in NASCAR.
"It was a cool job. It was fun. It was a great thing to do," Rice said during an interview for AltDriver.
Rice, who played linebacker for the University of North Carolina, had initially set out to play in the NFL. However, a significant ankle injury made him a different player. His father also passed away at the same time his interest in the sport waned.
At that point in Rice's life, football was not the priority. He focused solely on playing guitar and writing songs. However, he also moved to Hendrick Motorsports as the championship-winning organization set out to create the next generation of pit road stars.
"I mean, I was a football guy, so you have the team atmosphere, get out of that, and then you're back on a team," Rice said. "So it felt good to be on a team again.
"We were all trash. We did our first pit stop (on) the first day, I think, was three and a half minutes. They didn't teach us anything and said, 'Do it.' It's like, 'Okay, we're gonna kill ourselves,' but we did it three and a half minutes, and then I think two months later, we were down to 13 seconds."
As Rice explained to the "Like a Farmer Podcast," the group of athletes in his class went on to achieve some big things.
Some ended up working for Jimmie Johnson's team in a matter of weeks. Others ended up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon. This was right at the time that Johnson was winning five straight Cup Series titles, so Hendrick Motorsports was dominating the sport.
Rice, however, took a different path. He enjoyed the job, but making it in NASCAR wasn't necessarily his priority. He still remained focused on music.
"I was always going back to the hotel and writing songs in the suburban Extended Stay right there in Concord, North Carolina," Rice said.
This laser focus on music ultimately paid off. Rice released his first studio album in 2010. He followed it up with an EP in 2011 and another full-length in 2012. This second album debuted at No. 48 on the "Billboard" Country Albums chart.
Rice's career has featured seven full-length, studio albums. This includes the platinum-certified "Ignite the Night." He has released more than a dozen singles, five of which have been certified platinum.
The latest release is the surprise October drop, "Fireside Sessions," which features 25 songs recorded on acoustic guitar. It is available on a variety of platforms. To see the list, click here.