Last month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided to leave his NBC commentary job to join Amazon and TNT. He had been at NBC since he retired from the track in 2017.
This move was announced on his podcast.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Leaves NBC for Streaming
Essentially Sports reports, “He spilled the beans on his podcast, mentioning his contract with NBC was wrapping up, and The Athletic got the inside scoop on his exit. However, losing Dale Earnhardt Jr is definitely a major blow for NBC since heâs the star of their analyst lineup. But even with NBC bringing in Leigh Diffey to try and fill those big shoes, fans arenât exactly jumping for joy.”
“After Dale Jr decided to leave NBC, it seems big changes are hitting the NASCAR on NBC booth this summer,” the story continued.
“Leigh Diffey is stepping in to take over the main Cup Series announcer gig from Rick Allen once NBC picks up the NASCAR coverage again after the Olympic break. The switcheroo is kicking off midseason on June 30 with the Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.”
More from the story:
Rick Allenâs going to be behind the mic for the Cup Series races up until the Olympics roll around. Then, Leigh Diffey will jump in to call the shots for the Cup races for the back half of the 2024 season. It looks like Diffey will start either at the race in Michigan on August 18 or at Daytona on August 24…
NASCAR fans sure didnât hold back on sharing their two cents about the switch-up.
As soon as the word got out about NBC shaking things up in their broadcast booth, NASCAR fans didnât hold back their opinions online. Reactions spanned from the mild âAm I the only one that doesnât like this?â to more critical takes like âOh my, will there be whining,â and âDamn, was Dale the only reason Rick Allen had a job for as long as he did? Makes you wonder if heâs moving to Amazon/TNT as well.â
One fan was straight-up about the new unwanted vibe in NASCARâs booth, saying, âDiff in the booth for NASCAR would be great too!â while another couldnât hide their disappointment, saying, âOh no⌠Never imagined NBC would attempt to outduel FOX for the worst broadcast coverage but here we are⌠I miss Dale Jr. already.â
And there were those who werenât keen on adjusting to Diffeyâs accent, commenting, âAnother broadcaster we canât understand with his accent Thatâs why it can squire and the others are Australians are not doing American NASCAR races or anything with American speaking people.â
Will fans adjust? Time will tell.
But no one can blame Dale Jr. for doing what’s right for himself.
