Broadcasting, podcast, ownership keep Dale Jr. busy in 'retirement'
Posted November 8, 2019 1:24 p.m. EST
Updated November 8, 2019 2:13 p.m. EST
Six months after he joined his iconic father in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. still reflects fondly on that early May evening in Raleigh.
“I think (Dad) would have been extremely proud, probably surprised a little bit,” Earnhardt Jr. said of his father, the late. 7-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was inducted into the very same fraternity 25 years prior to his son being welcomed.
“You feel humbled and honored that you were able to sit up there with all those other individuals that had amazing stories,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
The ceremony at the Raleigh Convention Center back on May 3 is just one of many important events and instances that have marked what has been an eventful year for Earnhardt Jr.
The weekend prior to the Hall of Fame celebration, Earnhardt Jr. and his wife of almost 4 years, Amy, celebrated the first birthday for their daughter, Isla Rose.
On April 29, he bid farewell to his mother, Brenda Jackson, during her memorial service.
Then on Aug. 15, Earnhardt Jr., Amy and Isla miraculously survived a horrific plane crash in Elizabethton, TN, after the landing gear on their plane collapsed upon landing.
Through tribulations and triumphs, the two-time Daytona 500 champion and 15-time winner of NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award is moving forward full speed ahead.
After retiring from full-time racing in 2017, Earnhardt Jr. has seamlessly made the transition from the race track to the broadcast booth.
He is about to conclude his second season as a NASCAR analyst for NBC Sports in addition to serving as a correspondent for the network’s coverage of other sporting events including the Kentucky Derby and the Olympics.
Earnhardt Jr. has also found additional success with his own weekly podcast, “The Dale Jr. Download,” which airs on his Dirty Mo Media network as well as on NBCSN.
Now at 281 episodes, Earnhardt Jr. has welcomed a variety of guests to his decked-out studio in Charlotte.
They range from racing legends such as Richard Petty to current stars including this year’s Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud and even personalities from outside the racing world like WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin.
“I feel like (the podcast) has helped me gain confidence as an interviewer and there’s so much opportunity for growth,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
“It’s just a real great chance to sort of grease wheels a little bit and learn everything you can about not only interviewing, but production and everything that goes into getting that podcast out to the listeners and on TV.”
He will next be on the call for this weekend’s races at ISM Raceway in Phoenix on WRAL TV-5, with the Xfinity Series race taking place on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. followed by the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
These races will serve as the final cutoff to determine the Championship 4 drivers that will compete for the Xfinity and NASCAR Cup series titles at Championship Weekend in Miami next week, which will also air on WRAL TV-5.
“It is overwhelming the drivers in this scenario, and it creates a lot of sparks and fireworks, and it’s great for TV. So, we’re having a lot of fun talking about it,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
He is not only talking about racing, but still competing in a sense as the owner/operator of JR Motorsports.
The organization has won 3 Xfinity Series championships, including the last two seasons with William Byron and Tyler Reddick respectively.
Earnhardt Jr. currently has two drivers that are still in the hunt for this year’s Xfinity Series crown.
Justin Allgaier currently sits in the final slot for the Championship 4 heading into Phoenix, while Noah Gragson finds himself in a must-win scenario.
Earnhardt Jr. says that when calling a Xfinity Series races for NBC involving his drivers, he knows his duties as a broadcaster come first.
“You certainly want the best for your team, but once you get into the broadcast booth, you’re no longer an owner,” he said.
“Sometimes I’m maybe a little harsher on my drivers, just so people understand that there’s no confusion.
“Typically, I don’t call the final race at Homestead (Miami). If we have a car that’s racing for the championship, it probably would be a conflict of interest.”
This season marks the 19th straight year that NASCAR’s top series (NASCAR Cup) will determine its champion under a playoff format, which is just one of many changes that have been implemented the last two decades to keep the sport relevant.
“It’s really an ingenious way of doing it that NASCAR has created,” Earnhardt Jr. said.
He also noted the numerous changes that have been made to the playoff format over the years, including expanding the field from 10 to 16 drivers as well as the addition of stage racing in 2017.
Another major alteration came this year with the addition of a new aero package on the NASCAR Cup cars designed to create more exciting racing to bring fans back to the tracks and the TV screens.
“I don’t know how it could get any more exciting. I don’t know how we could create much more drama than we have, and you can see it play out on the race track,” Earnhardt Jr.
Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick each recorded a victory the last two weeks at Martinsville and Texas to punch their tickets to the Championship 4 at Miami next weekend.
Kyle Busch and defending NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano currently are in possession of the final two championship slots, while this year’s Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin is currently the first driver out of the title hunt after a disappointing crash last Sunday at Texas set him 20 points back of the final playoff spot.
If Hamlin can recover and turn in a strong performance this weekend at Phoenix, there is still the possibility that Joe Gibbs Racing could have 3 drivers competing for the NASCAR Cup title in the final race with Hamlin, Busch and Truex Jr.
Earnhardt Jr. knows what it’s like to be part of a three-headed monster. For 10 seasons he drove for Hendrick Motorsports, alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon and 7-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
"I learned how hard it is to have four really good cars (on one team),” Earnhardt Jr. said.
“The system in how Joe Gibbs Racing prepares their cars, I think they probably do it just a little bit differently than the norm that has been done by multi-car teams in NASCAR over the years.”
No matter who is crowned this year’s NASCAR Cup champion, is it still Earnhardt Jr. who is arguably still the most recognizable face of the sport.
And it will just be a matter of time before he is celebrating another induction, this time in Charlotte at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
