Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves no doubt about his ‘high standards’ for NASCAR’s pre-race show
Former NASCAR Cup Series star driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently went on a podcast with The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi and opened up about his 'high standards' for his pre-race show. During the podcast, Dale Jr. also revealed how he got his inspiration for the pre-race show's standards.
Earnhardt Jr. hosts the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Media's YouTube channel. The podcast focuses on unparalleled perspective, candid commentary, and fascinating, first-person insights for the listeners.
Junior began his podcast in the 2013 season with the former co-host, JR Motorsports' Mike Davis. He made his first appearance on the show after five months in the 22nd episode.
During the latest clip, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed he has "high standards" for the pre-race show because he worked with NBC's Marty Snider and thought his approach was top-notch. He explained:
"I had a high standard for our pre-race show because I always thought the one Marty did when I worked with NBC was awesome. Before we come on air with the pre-race show, they basically just turn the cameras on and turn the stream on." [00:18 onwards]
Dale Jr. further revealed that with Amazon as the broadcaster, they turn on the cameras ahead of the race. He added:
"You can go on Amazon Prime, and you can click the thumbnail, and it puts you in the racetrack. They've got cameras roaming around. I love that because, like, you can turn it on and you'll have the ambient sound and noises and video of the track you'll hear when the pre-race begins. That's the luxury."
Amazon Prime has signed a five-race deal with the Stock Car Racing Association for the 2025 season. The broadcasting on Prime began with NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, held on May 25, 2025.
The next races will be at Nashville Superspeedway, Michigan International Speedway, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and Pocono Raceway.
“I know that Amazon will bring some new ideas”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Amazon Prime's coverage for the 2025 season
Earlier this month, former two-time Xfinity Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his take on Amazon Prime's broadcasting of stock car races for the 2025 Cup Series season. He shared his excitement and revealed the media company has new and unique ideas for their gig this year.
The former most-popular driver award winner stated:
“I got hired to be part of that booth. I'm excited about it [...] I think there'll be some ways that, I say this carefully because I don't think that one TV partner is better than the other, and I don't think you would ever have that conversation publicly, but I know that Amazon will bring some new ideas just like anybody.” [6:11]
Dale Earnhardt Jr. never won a Cup Series championship title but had a successful career in stock car racing. During his Cup Series stint, he secured 26 wins, 149 top-five finishes, and 260 top-ten finishes. Also, he won the Most Popular Driver award 15 times in 631 starts.