Shaquille O’Neal set to DJ at Sonoma Raceway NASCAR weekend

Those who know Shaquille O’Neal associate him with his 19-year NBA career, not his reputation as a professional deejay.

But, as he’s spinning electronic dance music ahead of Sonoma Raceway’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR weekend, O’Neal will hit the stage as his alternative-ego, DJ Diesel, to rev up the crowd.

The four-time NBA champion and platinum-selling recording artist will drop the beat on the prerace stage to headline race festivities for the 34th annual NASCAR Cup Series race.

Sonoma Raceway’s annual NASCAR weekend will pack in three full days of on-track action, beginning with the General Tire 200 ARCA Menards Series West race on Friday, June 9 and the DoorDash 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday evening, June 10. The weekend will conclude with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, June 11, where DJ Diesel will serenade Sonoma.

The NASCAR star-studded event will also bring Cup Series champion Kyler Larson to the Valley.

This isn’t O’Neal’s first raceway rodeo either — in 2010, he had the opportunity to race Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his reality TV show "Shaq Vs."

This will be O’Neal’s first appearance ever at Sonoma Raceway, and his last raceway stop before he detours into the summer music festival season.

O’Neal’s interest in deejay-ing started when he was a teenager. He loved listening to hip-hop deejays and was able to purchase a turntable setup after earning $200 doing chores around his neighborhood. When his 2013 rap album, “Shaq Diesel ” sold over a million copies, it cemented him as the only athlete ever with a platinum-selling album.

O’Neal’s first performance as DJ Diesel was at TomorrowWorld in 2015, where he played his set to tens of thousands of fans. Soon after, he launched his own festival series, “Shaq's Fun House,” in 2018, followed by Shaq's Super Bowl Fun House, featuring performances and appearances from Migos, Diplo, Tiesto, Lil Jon, T-Pain, Adam Levine, Jamie Foxx, Akon, Patrick Mahomes, Reggie Bush, Adrian Peterson, Evander Holyfield and many more.

His music catalog can be streamed on most major platforms, and his latest single, “Dawn Of The Dead,” is out now.

“We can’t wait to entertain our race fans with DJ Diesel throwing the party,” said Jill Gregory, Sonoma Raceway Executive vice president and general manager, in a news release. “This is always a high energy crowd that loves our prerace show. We’re looking forward to dialing up that energy higher than ever with Shaq leading the way at the Toyota/Save Mart 350.”

Tickets for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 and “prerace track passes” for a “close-up” concert are available now at sonomaraceway.com or by calling 800-870-RACE.

You can reach staff writer Rebecca Wolff at rebecca.wolff@sonomanews.com and on Twitter @bexwolff.