Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to remind people NASCAR has the 'best drivers in the world'
Now that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick are both going to be broadcasters next season, NASCAR fans are in luck. Earnhardt has been doing the broadcast thing with NBC for a while now. Harvick is joining up with Fox Sports next year for the first half of the year.
Talking together on the Dale Jr. Download, the two members of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list both talked about the season ahead. The goal for the broadcasters is to tell great stories that entertain fans.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. also wants to remind folks that NASCAR has the best drivers in the world.
“To your point about making them rockstars or telling people they are rockstars, they’re damn good at it,” Earnhardt said to Harvick. “I get in that Xfinity car and I’m reminded immediately, these guys are no joke. And imagine the leap to the Cup level, right? Of just talent, with how hard they race, they’re doing it every single week and all of a sudden you jump on that escalator like ‘Oh s**t, these freaking guys know where they’re going, I gotta figure this out.’ I love that it reminds me of just how good they are because we forget to tell people that.
“You get down the road and you’re like, man, I haven’t said that these are the best race car drivers in the world in a long time, and I should be saying that more often!”
With each new former driver in the booth, I get more excited. There’s nothing like a driver’s perspective on a race, it provides information and entertainment unlike any other.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. likes to get familiar with racing
Of course, Dale Jr. was referencing the times he gets into an Xfinity Series race in that quote. Usually, he sticks to just one race. However, this year he was in two races to close out the season. Bristol and Homestead-Miami.
Getting back into a NASCAR race allows Earnhardt to remember what it’s like. The smells, the sights and the sounds. How two drivers interact in a race or what’s going on with a car that’s starting to slow down on the track.
It isn’t just a fun thing to do on Saturday night, though. Dale Earnhardt Jr. races hard and he almost had a win at Bristol. He looked like the best car on the night before his feet caught fire. Let’s not forget, he was top-5 at Homestead-Miami a month later, too. Junior’s still got it.
Kevin Harvick is going to be in the broadcast booth fresh off his Cup Series career. He’ll remember what it was like, and he has Next Gen experience, that’s huge. I’m looking forward to having Harvick to start the year and Earnhardt to close it out.