Hot Rod Race

"Hot Rod Race" is a Western swing song about a fictional street race between hot rod customized cars in California, first recorded by Arkie Shibley, and released in November 1950. The comical lyrics relate a night-time race between a custom Ford and a Mercury, from the perspective of the Ford's driver. The race begins outside San Pedro and the drivers race through many towns, evading the police, before both cars are finally overtaken by a faster driver, "a kid in a hopped-up Model A".

With its hard driving boogie woogie beat and talking blues vocals, "Hot Rod Race" is sometimes named as one of the first rock and roll songs. It also broke new ground in tapping into hot rod and street racing culture, their terminology and slang. Its popularity inspired a series of hot rod songs and fast car songs from other artists and genres recorded for the car culture of the 1950s and 60s.