NBC Sports exec reveals why network has Dale Earnhardt Jr. broadcasting beyond NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has stepped outside his NASCAR duties on NBC in recent years, notably taking part in the network’s coverage of this year’s Kentucky Derby in May.
During a recent appearance on “The Dale Jr. Download,” Sam Flood, executive producer and president of production at NBC Sports, went into detail on why the NASCAR Hall of Famer has been used in a variety of roles.
NBC Executive explains NASCAR Hall of Famer’s role at network
“It’s a unique situation,” Flood said, via Phillip Bupp of Awful Announcing. “We’ve, a couple of times have done crossover, but this is really the big one that we’ve leaned into. And when we made the proposal to junior, we had a list of things that we wanted him to do. We wanted to be, go beyond motorsports, because we want him to take the fans that get to know him at the Kentucky Derby or at the Olympics and say, ‘Hey, that guy’s pretty cool. I wanna hang with him. Oh, he’s the NASCAR guy, I wanna watch a race and hang out with Junior for three hours during a race.’
“And that’s the strategy is to get him, and also Junior wants to be more than just a race guy and he wants to try some play-by-play. He wants to see what it’s like to be a broadcaster. He does [podcasting] right? And he has grown from a shy guy… to being the most popular guy in the sport. And to someone who communicates an incredibly welcoming level. He doesn’t put up barriers. He engages you in such a plain way, and it’s real. It’s authentic.
“And I remember we’re talking to him about, he said, ‘I want to learn how to be a broadcaster… I want to learn all the lessons that I need to be great.’ And I said, ‘The only lesson you need to learn is to be Dale Jr. The minute you’re not Dale Jr., you become a broadcaster. We’re wasting our money. We shouldn’t hire you. We want you to be Dale Jr. We need to bring your authentic self to the TV in whatever you do. Yeah, we’ll teach you how to when to talk to the camera, when to talk to your coworkers, and how to get to commercial, and do the little things. But most importantly is never lose you.’ Because that’s what the fans are in love with and you see things that are [in a] really unique way. And you describe things in a great way. So let’s let that happen.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals his favorite part of broadcasting NASCAR races
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 48, is suddenly a broadcasting veteran as he enters his sixth season with NBC Sports. He joined the NBC Sports booth in 2018, one year after his retirement after 18 years of full-time racing in the Cup Series. Among his career accomplishments: two Daytona 500 victories and a member of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. now enjoys getting to see the sport through a different lens.
“I feel like as a broadcaster, that’s your main responsibility,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You go into that booth to make the fan at home realize how great a race it is in person. Even when you’ve got to carry a race that’s not quite as exciting, you don’t say, ‘It is what it is.’ Your job is to make it something. Make it exciting, find something to talk about, find the battles, point the cameras there. There’s never a race that doesn’t have something compelling going on. So you’ve got to keep searching and looking and find it.”