Dale Earnhardt Jr. describes what he's like as a passenger in a car

What’s it like having one of the most recognizable faces in NASCAR as a passenger in your car? According to Dale Earnhardt Jr., he’s easy-going, when you can get him to actually take the passenger’s seat, that is.

Earnhardt told the Athletic all about what he’s like when he’s in a car that isn’t racing around a track.

“I’m probably buried in my phone. I don’t know how this will sound, but I feel like as a husband and a father, it’s a responsibility of mine to drive us where we go,” Earnhardt said. “Amy doesn’t mind driving, and she really doesn’t love my driving, but I feel guilty when I sit in the passenger seat because I’m going to get on my phone and I’m going to get these emails.

“I can answer this, that and the other, and I can check on this and retweet this and do some work stuff or responsibilities only I can do and I can’t have someone doing for me. So I’m usually sitting over there just buried in my phone.”

When he’s not the one driving or buried deep in emails, Earnhardt says he takes advantage of the aux cord (or Bluetooth) to DJ to his heart’s content.

“I’m not in a hurry and I’m not a person going, ‘Drive faster’ or whatever. I don’t complain or critique driving,” Earnhardt said. “I love to listen to the radio. It’s like, ‘Oh man, now I’m gonna play you a new song. You’re driving and I’m gonna sit in the passenger seat and I’m gonna enlighten you with some music you’ve never heard.’

“And you’re probably going to hate it. But I like to DJ and accomplish some work stuff and catch up on emails.”

Earnhardt reveals why he loves covering NASCAR

Earnhardt Jr. will be in the booth alongside Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte for this Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway — the first Cup Series race of the 2023 season broadcasted on NBC. Ahead of his season six debut, the 26-time winner revealed what keeps him coming back to the booth for more seasons.

Earnhardt Jr. said he loves seeing cars battling for position on the race track, referring to the 1979 Daytona 500 as the “pinnacle of NASCAR broadcasting.”

“What I love about broadcasting is talking about two cars battling,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I always point to the 1979 Daytona 500 as the pinnacle of NASCAR broadcasting. To me, that is the gold standard in terms of delivery. Ken Squier and David Hobbs were in the booth that day, and the way Ken delivered his excitement for what he was seeing was so perfect. So when you feel like you get that right, that is such a great feeling.

“Every time I go into a booth, I hope I get an opportunity to try to get it right. I’m not a play-by-play guy, but that’s a little bit of a play-by-play moment when you’re talking about a battle. Remember when we were at Kansas and Joey Logano was trying to beat Kevin Harvick? Me and Burton got to commentate a little bit and do some play-by-play-ish work in that moment. That is so fun.”

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.