Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been doing practice race broadcasts to prepare for his NBC debut

NASCAR fans will get to hear Dale Jr. on the microphone in just a few weeks, but he’s already been honing his skills where only a few people are privy to his commentating.

If you’ve been watching the Stanley Cup Final between the Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights, you’ve definitely seen NBC Sports touting the arrival of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to its NASCAR team on June 1. We say definitely because it seems like every other commercial break has one of the “Same Dale. New view.” spots.

And why not? Earnhardt is the most high profile addition to a NASCAR broadcast team in maybe ever (sorry Jeff Gordon, but it’s true), and NBC would be silly not to remind us all that Junior time is nearly here.

(As an aside, it would be awesome if Earnhardt started his new gig at Daytona, a track so many fans associate with him so strongly, but the schedule is what it is, and Chicagoland it is for his debut.)

In addition to the TV spots, NBCSN actually trotted out Dale Jr. after the first period of the Capitals’ blowout Game 4 victory, where he spoke to Mike Tirico about the atmosphere at his first ever Stanley Cup Final game and what winning the Stanley Cup might mean for long suffering Washington sports fans — of which Earnhardt is one, as a huge Redskins supporter.

However, as you can see in the video below, the most fascinating part of the interview was when Earnhardt revealed that he’s been practicing for the start of the NBC NASCAR season by literally practicing race broadcasts behind closed doors.

Just the whole idea that Dale Jr. has already called a race or two — and Fox Sports’ Mike Joy insinuated that one of them might have been the Coca-Cola 600 — but no one except fellow commentators Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and a few producers and cameramen heard them is tantalizing. We don’t usually endorse leaks of any kind, but if anyone has those tapes …

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We kid, of course. It only makes sense that Earnhardt wouldn’t be thrown directly into the fire without some practice, just as he ran practice laps before qualifying during his racing days. The only way to know if you’ve got calling a NASCAR race down is to call a NASCAR race. He’ll get to do it for a much bigger audience soon enough, as NBC takes over Cup Series coverage for the remainder of the 2018 season on July 1 at Chicagoland.