Advance Auto Parts Clash: Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing?

Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing in Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona? We let you know if the NASCAR star will be on the starting grid.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be a part of Saturday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway. But will the NASCAR favorite be racing?

Earnhardt will not be racing in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports car on Saturday. But fans can still catch him as part of the TV broadcast team. Fox Sports announced at the start of the month that Earnhardt had agreed to work as an extra analyst for the Feb. 18 preseason race.

He joins his one-time substitute and teammate Jeff Gordon in the booth. The two will provide color commentary alongside Darrell Waltrip and Mike Joy.

Alex Bowman will fill in for Earnhardt on the track. Bowman qualified for the Advance Auto Parts Clash by virtue of winning a pole position at Phoenix while initially subbing for Earnhardt last season.

But one figures most of the attention will be on Earnhardt Jr.’s performance as a TV analyst. Not only is he working the microphone, but he’ll be doing it alongside his buddy Gordon, who just spent a handful of races driving Junior’s car while he recovered from concussion symptoms. It’s a safe bet the two will joke about that and probably a lot more, so you don’t want to miss the call for this race.

For information on how to watch the Advance Auto Parts Clash live, on TV and online, check out our live stream page here.

Next: Here's how NASCAR is changing its concussion protocol

While NASCAR fans will have to wait a little bit longer to see Earnhardt Jr. in a race car, having him in the broadcast booth for the Advance Auto Parts Clash is the next best thing. Especially as he’ll be working with Gordon, the commentary on the race could be just as entertaining as the race itself.