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Earnhardt Liked Comfort Factor Of NBC, Won't Call Xfinity Races Due To Conflict

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join NBC as a NASCAR analyst next year, and he said that he "began exploring TV opportunities nearly three months ago, shortly after announcing his impending retirement," according to Nate Ryan of NBCSPORTS.com. Earnhardt "wrapped up the deal in the past few days after several weeks of negotiations." He will be "joining a broadcast team that includes Steve Letarte, his crew chief from 2011-14, and longtime mentor Dale Jarrett." Earnhardt: “Being around people like that will allow me to be a lot more comfortable and lot less shy than in the past. That was a key element that made me excited about this partnership." Ryan noted while he missed the second half of the '16 season recovering from a concussion, Earnhardt "worked with the NBC booth of Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Letarte during races at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway." The experience "eased the way to go into broadcasting" (NBCSPORTS.com, 7/24). Earnhardt said that he will "be a part of every NASCAR Cup race broadcast but won't have much of a role in the Xfinity Series broadcasts because he owns a race team in the series." He added that he "really enjoyed being in the booth for some races last year, and that the biggest thing he will have to overcome is 'pure nerves' and stage fright" (ESPN.com, 7/24). NBC said that it was also "partnering with Earnhardt on some of his other businesses, including Dirty Mo Media and Hammerhead Entertainment" (AP, 7/24).

JUST BE YOURSELF: NBC Sports Exec Producer Sam Flood said the net hired Earnhardt "to be himself." Flood said, "We want Dale to be Dale and we don’t want him to change at all. We just want to give him some tricks to make it comfortable on television." He added, "The most important thing is his voice. We didn’t hire him to turn him into an announcer." Earnhardt said that he "doesn’t believe his relationship with drivers will change once he becomes a full-time broadcaster, partly because he said he understands how much relationships with broadcast crews matter to competitors" (USATODAY.com, 7/24).

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