With NASCAR set to sign its new media rights deal next season, one of the biggest names in motorsports will join the new TV teams.
Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports as a commentator for both networks when NASCAR’s new TV contract begins in 2025. The two-time Daytona 500 winner is an analyst on NASCAR’s coverage NASCAR on NBC since 2018, but its contract with the network was set to expire at the end of 2024.
TNT Sports will broadcast NASCAR races for the first time since 2014, and Earnhardt Jr. will be an on-air commentator for NASCAR Cup Series races. He will also contribute to a Bleacher Report content series where he will “capture the thrilling NASCAR experience by interviewing special guests while driving each of TNT’s five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks with them in the passenger seat.”
“It’s a very exciting time to welcome TNT Sports back to NASCAR,” Earnhardt Jr said in a statement. “I remember watching the races on TNT back in the day and it’s very nostalgic to see them come back to the sport and be part of their team.”
With Amazon Prime Video joining the NASCAR world next year, it gives the streaming service another big name for its live sports coverage. When Amazon began streaming the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” it hired notable announcers Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit to call the games. With Amazon, Earnhardt Jr. will be a race announcer and have other roles that have not yet been announced.
“I am honored to be a part of Prime Video’s entry into NASCAR,” Earnhardt Jr said in a statement. “It’s an exciting opportunity to give our NASCAR fan base yet another way to watch the sport. It will be exciting to see the innovation that Prime Video will bring to our sport and its fans.”
NASCAR’s new media rights deal will run from 2025-31 and still includes NBC and Fox Sports, as well as TNT Sports and Amazon. NBC and Fox Sports will have 14 NASCAR Cup Series races each, while TNT Sports and Amazon will split 10 midseason races. Amazon will also get the rights to broadcast practices and qualifying events to start the year and TNT Sports will broadcast the final practices and qualifying rounds of the season on Max and truTV.
