Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he is investigating options when it comes to TV
By Nick Tylwalk
Don’t be surprised if you see Dale Earnhardt Jr. on TV next season, but he’s not quite ready to say he’ll be an announcer just yet.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t retiring. He’s merely not going to be driving in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after the current season ends.
Junior made a clear distinction between the two while talking to the media this weekend at Sonoma prior to Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350. While he won’t be wheeling the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, he wants to be an active part of promoting the sport of stock car racing beyond his role as co-owner of JR Motorsports.
Could that mean becoming a NASCAR announcer or commentator? Reports surfaced this week that Earnhardt had been talking to the networks that broadcast NASCAR, and he more or less confirmed those reports in his Sonoma media session.
“Well I certainly did enjoy doing that, and we are definitely open to the possibility of seeing what options I have,” Earnhardt said. ” Who wanted us, what kind of job they want me for … we’re sort of in the middle of understanding that. That just goes along the lines of doing due diligence on everything.”
He certainly shouldn’t have any trouble adjusting to life behind a microphone if that’s what he wants to do next. Earnhardt Jr. has hosted TV shows, done voice work and podcasting as well. One would assume both Fox Sports and NBC Sports would fall all over each other trying to get him on their teams and would spend some money to do so.
Next: Who will take over the 88 for Hendrick once Dale Earnhardt Jr. retires?
The nice thing about being in Junior’s position is that he has options, and opportunities will come to him without much effort on his part. He’s clearly giving the next phase of his career a lot of thought, and while it might lead to TV as soon as 2018, he’ll be just fine if it doesn’t.