NASCAR_drivers_come_to_Orrville’s_Jarrett_Industries
NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett and Josh Berry were on Orrville Thursday at Jarret Industries.
Michael Schenk, The Daily Record
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will return to the NASCAR broadcast booth for Amazon Prime Video’s coverage of the Coca-Cola 600.
- This will be Amazon Prime’s first of five Cup Series races broadcast, sharing 10 total with TNT.
A new network, Amazon Prime Video, will take the wheel in the NASCAR Cup Series on May 25 with Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the most popular drivers in the sport’s history, back in the booth.
NASCAR’s first fully direct-to-consumer streaming media partner will air the first of its five Cup races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 66th Coca-Cola 600 (5 p.m. CT). Along with Earnhardt, who sat out last season as a TV commentator after spending six years with NBC, coverage will be provided by Carl Edwards, Adam Alexander, Steve Letarte and host Danielle Trotta. Trevor Bayne, Kim Coon and Marty Snider will report from the pits.
The 400-lap race is the longest of the season, but that might not be long enough for Earnhardt, who has missed being behind the mic.
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“We had a little practice rehearsal over (the May 11, Kansas) race using the FOX program and my bosses were texting me when we got done, ‘What did you think?’ ” Earnhardt said. “I said, ‘I’ve got one problem. We only get to do this five weeks.’ I had a lot of fun and it’s going to be here and gone in a snap of a finger. I am all about doing 600 miles.”
Which NASCAR races will Dale Earnhardt Jr. call on TV in 2025?
Amazon Prime Video and TNT will share coverage of 10 Cup races, and Earnhardt will work each of them. That includes all NASCAR Cup races from the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25 through the Brickyard 400 on July 27.
NBC Sports will broadcast 12 Cup races, including the final three of the playoffs — Talladega, Martinsville and Phoenix — and the regular-season finale at Daytona. Earnhardt will not be part of any of those races.
NBC Sports also will carry 10 Cup Series races on USA Network, including seven playoff races. Peacock will simulcast four Cup races on NBC, including the Daytona finale and the Phoenix championship race.
The Coca-Cola 600 is special for Earnhardt, who made his Cup Series debut there in 1999, finishing 16th. In 2015, he won the Coca-Cola 600, and had five other top-five finishes at Charlotte.
Earnhardt, however, has never called the Coca-Cola 600 because it was part of the FOX package when he was with NBC.
“I’ve always wanted to do the 600,” he said. “I think we all can kind of agree that the 600’s been one of the best races over the past couple of years. The Next Gen car has been incredible on the mile-and-a-halfs. So that has me really excited.”
Amazon Prime Video NASCAR race broadcast will be different from Fox, NBC
Earnhardt said race fans will benefit from having so many media outlets share races this season. He would not give away too much about how Amazon Prime Video’s broadcast will differ, but said there will be some original concepts incorporated.
“I think that all the networks push each other to put good products out on Sunday,” he said. “Amazon will bring some really cool ideas and new ways of looking and approaching the sport that will push everybody to do better and be better. I’m grateful to be part of that team. I’m excited to see the fans reaction to it.”
When pressed about the differences, Earnhardt would only say, “There will be some things that look very similar and some new stuff as well that will be fun.”
Dale Earnhardt Sr. docuseries debuts May 22
Along with Earnhardt’s first Amazon Prime Video broadcast this week will be the May 22 premiere of the docuseries “Earnhardt,” also on Amazon Prime Video.
The four-part Imagine Entertainment series delves into the 26-year racing career and family life of Earnhardt’s father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and the impact he had on the sport before his death in 2001 at the Daytona 500.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, selected executive producer Ron Howard and Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment to tell the story of their father’s legacy.
“About three years ago, Kelley and I were inundated with five to six different projects around Dad in various forms and different ideas and approaches to doing something,” Earnhardt said. “This one stood above the rest. This one stood out because of Ron Howard and his team and their ability to tell moving stories.”
The first two episodes will stream on May 22. The final two will be released on May 29.
Kelley Earnhardt Miller said the timing was right to tell her father’s story because so many younger fans never had the opportunity to see him race.
“I can take my kids as an example — they’re 24, 19 and 13,” she said. “As much as we lived it and we have the idea that everyone knows the story, my kids watched it and they were introduced to so many new things that they had no clue about about our dad, about our life, about our family.”
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
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