NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is "in talks with Fox Sports and NBC Sports about joining one of their broadcast teams," the "clearest sign yet that Earnhardt is close to a move to the booth," according to sources cited by Adam Stern of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Earnhardt "announced about two months ago that this would be his last year racing full time." He has "stated he was open to getting into broadcasting after enjoying guest stints in the booth with both networks." It is "unclear which, if any, of the two networks is closer to a deal with Earnhardt, or whether he has definitively committed to getting into media." Industry observers for years have been "expecting Fox to eventually seek a successor to Darrell Waltrip," the 70-year-old NASCAR HOFer who has called races for the net since it acquired the sport's media rights in '01. Meanwhile, NBC is "seen as having less of a natural move to make were the broadcast booth to stay as three-men teams" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/19 issue). USA TODAY's Scott Gleeson noted should Earnhardt "notch a deal with either, he’d join former Hendrick Motorsports employees and friends." Former driver Jeff Gordon "works for Fox and Earnhardt’s former crew chief, Steve Letarte, works for NBC" (USATODAY.com, 6/19).
SPEED KNOWS SPEED: The AP's Jenna Fryer noted NBC Olympic track & field analyst Ato Boldon will "join NBC Sports Group's NASCAR broadcast team as a features contributor beginning next week." His debut will be July 1 during coverage at Daytona Int'l Speedway. NBC Sports Exec Producer Sam Flood said, "I want a fish out of water to show what NASCAR is all about." It was during his coverage of the Rio Games that Boldon "first expressed" curiosity about NASCAR to Flood. Boldon will "report on what makes NASCAR fans loyal to their drivers while hanging out in the track infield." He will also "examine NASCAR's earlier days of racing on Daytona Beach." Fryer noted Boldon will also "report from" races at Bristol, Charlotte and Homestead-Miami. NBC "plans to use him as a hauler driver, a member of Joe Gibbs Racing's pit crew and will give him the wheel of NBC Sports' on-track car to experience the horsepower and track banking" (AP, 6/20).
