Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jul 31, 2022; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

The final NASCAR Cup Series race of the Round of 12 is on the Charlotte Roval, but you won’t hear the voice of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the NBC broadcast. That’s because Earnhardt is sitting out due to developing a fever Saturday night.

Earnhardt posted on X (Twitter) that he “picked up a fever on the way home” from the Xfinity Series race. The fever broke Sunday morning, and out of precaution, Earnhardt will watch the race on TV like most NASCAR fans.

Luckily for Earnhardt, NASCAR is racing in the Charlotte area this weekend. Most NASCAR people, including Earnhardt, live north of Charlotte, so it’s a short drive to return home. There are no flights or extended travel, which is less than ideal when you get sick.

Earnhardt worked the Xfinity Series race on Saturday for NBC with four of his cars in the race. JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer won the Drive for the Cure 250 as he and Justin Allgaier are the two JRM drivers in the Xfinity Series Round of 8.

With Earnhardt out of the commentary booth on Sunday, commentary duties will go to the trio of Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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