Rick Allen, the longtime voice of the NASCAR Cup Series on NBC, has embarked on a new chapter in sports announcing. He has joined the Carolina Panthers as the entertainment public address announcer for home football games.The move comes months after Allen was replaced in NBC's Cup Series booth. And Kelley Earnhardt, sister of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-owner of JR Motorsports, shared her excitement at the news. Allen wrote on X:"Let’s go!! Starting my new role as entertainment PA announcer for @Panthers football games! #KeepPounding"Kelley Earnhardt replied:"This is awesome Rick!"Rick Allen's connection to the Earnhardt family runs deep. He and Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent years working together on NBC's NASCAR coverage, with Allen on play-by-play and Earnhardt as a commentator and analyst with Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton.Now, Allen's new Panthers role will see him working alongside the team's play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff during the NFL regular season, with former players Jake Delhomme, Jordan Gross, Luke Kuechly, and veteran broadcaster Jim Szoke rotating as analysts.Rick Allen's departure from NBC was part of a major shakeup in 2024. He had called the first eight NASCAR Cup Series races on NBC that season before Leigh Diffey, NBC's IndyCar voice since 2013, stepped in to finish the year, including the entire playoff run.Rick Allen opens up about leaving NBC: "I found out about that the day before"(L-R) NASCAR commentators Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the 2022 finale. Source: GettyEarlier in 2025, Rick Allen sat down with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to discuss his career, his time in the booth, and the abrupt end to his NBC tenure. He revealed that he learned about the transition the day before the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January."I found out about that the day before the (2024) Hall of Fame in January… at a lunch… they didn't know exactly how many races, but they were going to have (Leigh) Diffey do the last however many races. I didn't understand that. I guess I didn't know why that would be the way you would transition somebody in and me out," Allen said in the Dale Jr. Download podcast (1:15:18 onwards)Diffey ultimately took over from the start of the playoffs, and Allen never returned to the Cup booth after that. And NBC never explained the reason behind the change.Allen also recalled a moment that underscored how public the change had become. While golfing at Michael Jordan's course, he finally met the NBA legend face-to-face."It hit me like a ton of bricks, when we golf with a bunch of guys we're at Michael Jordan's golf course and I had never met physically Jordan... The first thing that Jordan says to me… He goes, 'Why aren't you announcing races anymore, what did you do?'... He thought I had done something wrong." (1:19:52 onwards)Despite the sting of his NBC exit, Rick Allen has stayed active in motorsports broadcasting. He recently joined Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a CARS Tour broadcast and now has a new outlet in the NFL with the Panthers, marking the next phase of a career that has spanned decades behind the microphone.