Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t want fans to blame NBC for his departure from the network.
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand Last week, it was reported that Earnhardt Jr. would be leaving NBC’s NASCAR coverage. Six years later, he joined the broadcast teams at Amazon and WBD.
According to On3Rumors spread on Reddit that Earnhardt Jr. was wary of the idea of having NBC broadcast the race remotely from a studio in Charlotte instead of broadcasting it live at the race venue, and that he clashed with producers who pushed for analysis of the race. It’s based on what’s happening on the monitor rather than looking at the track.
Earnhardt Jr. denied these rumors in a post to X earlier this week.
“This is all a lie” he tweeted. “NBC isn’t considering a remote booth and I’ve never been scolded for anything. NBC has been great and everyone there has taught me a lot. That’s the truth. I promise you, I have nothing but respect and love for everyone I interacted with there.”
This rumor may have started spreading based on something he said on his podcast last week.
Earnhardt Jr. said for several minutes that he generally wishes TV cameras could zoom out further on the race to show more cars on screen beyond the top three or four drivers.
He talked about, for example, how he didn’t like the idea of a seventh driver making a pass for sixth place without it being shown live on TV, or the idea of a wreck near the 10th spot. The photo was taken with a wide lens.
One of the co-hosts brought up Kevin Harvick saying he wanted to watch the races on the track instead of behind a monitor.
“To Harvick’s credit, there are many times when you don’t know what’s on the screen and you react to something happening,” Earnhardt Jr. said. .
“But sometimes it’s okay. You know, when I was a kid, they always told me, ‘Don’t react to anything that’s not on the screen.’ The viewer can’t see it happening. That’s wrong. Please don’t do that. ” I don’t believe in that. I think that’s BS. If something happens that isn’t on screen, I’m going to react. I don’t think that’s a rule I should follow. ”
While the comment could have been interpreted as an indication of his troubled relationship with NBC, Earnhardt Jr. was adamant that was not the case.
