The Fox Sports broadcast of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway next Sunday is going to have an interesting addition to the booth: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt, normally a full-time member of NBC’s NASCAR announcing team, is going to join the Fox booth for this one. Here’s how Fox announced this on their broadcast from the race at Bristol Sunday night:
.@DaleJr will be in the FOX Sports booth at Talladega! pic.twitter.com/977DVVHlBz
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 18, 2022
Here’s more on this from a Fox release:
The FOX NASCAR team of Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer welcomes NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and NBC Sports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the booth for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24, at 3:00 PM ET on FOX.
“Dale joining us in the booth says so much about his love of the sport of NASCAR, and there is absolutely no one more equipped to call a race at Talladega,” said Brad Zager, FOX Sports President Production & Operation and Executive Producer. “We appreciate that he is willing to share his time and experience for the upcoming FOX NASCAR race from one of NASCAR’s most popular venues, and we are grateful to NBC Sports for letting Dale spend some time with us.”
His record – six wins at Talladega, and his reputation – a 15-time NMPA Most Popular Driver, make him the perfect fit for the assignment.
“I’m really looking forward to having some fun with Mike, Clint and Larry (McReynolds) and the rest of the team,” said Earnhardt, who is a full-time member of the NBC Sports NASCAR announce team. “Calling a race from Talladega is an incredibly fun experience. You absolutely have to be on your toes at all times … it doesn’t take much for all hell to break loose.”
McReynolds also offers analysis during the race, with Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Vince Welch reporting from the pits.
Fox’s main NASCAR booth this year has seen several notable guest analysts sliding in alongside Joy and Bowyer, as their previous regular third member (Jeff Gordon) left after last season for an expanded ownership role with Hendrick Motorsports. But Earnhardt is a particularly significant addition, and it’s especially interesting to have him calling a race at Talladega given his remarkable record of success there.
It does also perhaps speak to the cooperation Fox and NBC have shown as joint NASCAR broadcasters that NBC is fine with Earnhardt showing up on a Fox broadcast. Of course, the season split here (Fox has the first half, NBC has the second half) perhaps makes that easier than in some shared broadcasting setups where both networks are showing events during the same time period. But it’s still cool that NBC broadcaster Earnhardt can go join the Fox booth for this race. And he’s certainly a worthy figure to toss into that guest analyst role.
