“It was weird”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. on not being in the NBC Sports booth

Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt weird staying away from the seat that he had assumed for over half a decade. NBC took over the coverage of NASCAR's Cup Series races post Sonoma and owing to Dale Jr.'s 2025 contract with TNT and Amazon Prime, the Hall of Famer wasn't there in NBC's broadcast booth.

NBC Sports' stint started last week with the Iowa Corn 350 and will continue over nine more races. Three of those races will be regular season events, while the remaining will be the final six races in the 2024 postseason. As per reports, the USA Network will cover the rest of the races.

Rick Allen, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton are back calling the races for NBC. Recalling his experience working alongside them, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said,

"They did a great job; just so good. NBC, they just do a great job all across the board and yeah, it was weird listening to the booth and not being there. I texted them; gave them a hard time. Told them, they didn't have no energy."

"I miss it man," Junior said revealing how much he misses his days at NBC. "It's cool, you know, they're great guys and there is zero frustrations or anything like that. And, there is some good chances that if I stay in broadcasting long term, I may likely work with them again."

Besides being a regular in the broadcast booth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also a NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner and a part-time Xfinity Series racer himself. Last year, he was honored as one of NASCAR's 75 greatest racers of all time.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. to play a role in the upcoming Bleacher Report series

The two-time Xfinity Series champion will be seen interviewing special guests and NASCAR dignitaries on the new Bleacher Report show, which will feature across all of Bleacher Report's social and digital platforms. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Dirty Mo Media will co-produce the new series.

To make the experience even more thrilling, Junior will host those interviews while driving on each of the five tracks that TNT will cover races on this year, as the guests sit in the passenger's seat.

"It is such an exciting time to welcome TNT Sports back to NASCAR,” Earnhardt Junior said, as reported by Autoweek. “I remember watching the races on TNT back in the day, and it’s so nostalgic to see them return to the sport and to be a part of their team."

"I’m looking forward to joining their team and also getting the chance to work with Bleacher Report creating content that our fans will enjoy," he added.

Despite retiring from full-time racing in 2017, the NASCAR vet has raced in a minimum of one race every season since then. However, the two-time Daytona 500 winner's part-time Xfinity schedule is reportedly nearing its end.