Race car drivers thanking their sponsors is a long-established tradition, one even famously parodied on Talledega Nights, but perhaps A.J. Allmendinger is still stuck in analyst mode. Allmendinger joined NBC as a motorsports analyst in December, but is serving as both a broadcaster and a driver in this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, and he did very well in his stint behind the wheel, getting his team into first place. However, in the post-race interview, he didn’t even remember that he was driving an Acura:
That's a nice Acura you're driving, @AJDinger.
Happy to have you on the @NBCSports team or as you say, "Hell yeah!" #Rolex24 pic.twitter.com/zdV14U5f1W
— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) January 27, 2019
Given the impressive on-track results, though, his team was fine with it:
PR – When your brain is still in driver mode and hasn't yet moved to interview mode. We'll cut you some slack AJ!
No. 86 LaSalle Solutions Acura NSX GT3 Evo @ManageSMARTnet https://t.co/4PnWqOZYhn
— Meyer Shank Racing (@MeyerShankRac) January 27, 2019
But that’s still definitely funny. And it shows that there are some important skills for drivers beyond just, you know, driving.
[Motorsports NBC on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.