Dale Earnhardt Jr. expects NASCAR on Prime broadcast to get a bad rap from racing fans

As Dale Earnhardt Jr. prepares to work Amazon’s first NASCAR race on Prime Video, he knows the broadcast won’t be without criticism.

Earnhardt Jr. joined Barstool Sports’ Rubbin is Racing podcast this week to discuss the four-part docuseries Earnhardt on Prime Video. The first two episodes will premiere Thursday, May 22, with the final two debuting May 29. In-between, will be Prime’s first NASCAR race, the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25, featuring Earnhardt Jr. as an analyst.

During the interview, host Michael McCarthy, also known as “Large,” noted racing fans seem to have an issue with every NASCAR broadcast and asked if Earnhardt Jr. is similarly expecting Prime Video to get a bad rap.

“Oh yeah,” Earnhardt Jr. said without hesitation. “It’s whoever is doing the races at the time, that’s the people that are gonna get the criticism. As soon as NBC would pick up the broadcast, everybody would go, ‘Man, I can’t wait until Fox is doing it again!’ It just kind of comes with the territory.”

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is the first of a seven-year media rights deal that saw Amazon Prime Video join as a partner. Fox aired the first 14 races of the season, followed by five on Prime Video and five more on TNT Sports before the schedule wraps up on NBC. In the NASCAR on Prime booth, Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte will work as analysts, with Adam Alexander being the play-by-play voice. As for the criticism he’s already expecting, Earnhardt Jr. is looking forward to the negative feedback.

“I like it because it drives me to be perfect,” he said. “I know I’m not gonna be perfect, but it makes me want to really do a good job. So, I read the criticism…I would not read the criticism on certain apps, but one of the places where I do trust criticism is Reddit. Reddit/NASCAR, they have this way of being critical, but also giving you the reasons why. They don’t just s*it on you and leave, they say, ‘Hey, man, this wasn’t good and I wish they would do it this way. Or I wish this would happen.’ The criticism is actually kind of helpful.”

While social media is often labeled a cesspool of negativity, Earnhardt Jr.’s thoughts on Reddit/NASCAR are some high praise. So, if you have an issue with Prime Video’s NASCAR broadcast, share it on Reddit/NASCAR and Earnhardt Jr. will take it to heart.

Prime’s broadcast can improve on constructive criticism, but one thing Earnhardt Jr. can’t fix or even apologize for is the fact that racing fans will have to stream the race to consume it. NASCAR has a lot of older fans who live in rural areas. Just as NFL and MLB fans complain about streaming, NASCAR and Amazon will undoubtedly hear a lot of those complaints from racing fans when Prime Video begins its slate of races.