One of the biggest names in NASCAR history is leaving his longtime media home for greener pastures. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leaving NBC to provide analysis for Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports’ NASCAR coverage that begins next season.
Marchand says Earnhardt Jr. will take 2024 off and return to the airwaves in 2025. Both TNT Sports and Prime Video will instantly have a recognizable, legitimate voice for their NASCAR coverage, similar to how both companies legitimized their NHL and NFL coverage, respectively, with splashy hires. TNT hired former NBC voices Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk to man their hockey booth, while Prime Video brought in Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit to call Thursday Night Football games.
Earnhardt Jr. was unsure of his future with NBC as recently as three weeks ago. The former driver of the 88 car said on his podcast, “My contract with NBC…was up at the end of last year. I’m currently working through what that looks like for me. I definitely love being in the broadcast booth and want to continue doing that.” During the conversation, Earnhardt Jr. revealed that he’d spoken to various NASCAR TV partners about joining their broadcast teams. We speculated that Earnhardt could join Prime Video to be the Al Michaels-level hire — and that prediction manifested into reality.
Marchand notes that, as a free agent, Earnhardt Jr. could still work for FOX or even NBC in 2024. However, he says there’s “nothing substantial” between Jr. and the networks at this time.
As for NBC, there’s no word yet on who will replace Jr. on its coverage, but there’s no bad blood — at least publicly.
“Dale Earnhardt Jr. is beloved in the NASCAR world and has made numerous contributions to NBC Sports, from his work as an analyst on our NASCAR coverage to his experiences as a correspondent at major events like the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl, and the Olympics,” an NBC Sports spokesperson told The Athletic. “We thank Dale and we wish him the best going forward.”
