Dale Earnhardt Jr. on classic radio, Bluey and the joys of broadcasting: 12 Questions, Part 1

August 23, 2024

Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. As NBC prepares to take over the NASCAR coverage for its portion of the Cup Series season this week at Nashville, NBC Sports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined us for a record-setting 12 Questions interview. It was so long, we’re splitting it into two parts. Below is Part 1 of our conversation. Part 2 is here. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

1. You must pick one chore or obligation to do every day for a year. But if you do it every day for a year, you never have to do it again for the rest of your life. So what would you like to knock out forever?

I’m not going to choose anything hygiene, because I don’t want anybody thinking I’m dirty — like brushing teeth or something. I get ready to go to bed at night and me and (wife) Amy sit down, watch TV, and I’m super lazy, man. You’re laying in bed and you’re like, “You know what? I’m just going to close my eyes and go to sleep.” But I need to get up and brush my teeth. So it’d be nice not to have to do that ever again if your teeth are just magically clean. But people will clown me for saying that, so I’m going to choose something else.

I’ll say any kind of prep work you have to do for work: Preparing, studying, reading notes. To be great at your job, that’s part of the job, that’s part you have to really put a lot of focus into. But man, it would be awesome just to be like a savant of some sort where you could just jump in the booth and just be perfect and know every single thing you need to know — data, information, everything that happened in practice, everything that’s going on in the storylines of the sport, every quote and everything everybody has ever said. That would be kinda nice.

2. Can you describe how you are as a passenger in a street car?

I’m probably buried in my phone. I don’t know how this will sound, but I feel like as a husband and a father, it’s a responsibility of mine to drive us where we go. Amy doesn’t mind driving, and she really doesn’t love my driving, but I feel guilty when I sit in the passenger seat because I’m going to get on my phone and I’m going to get these emails. I can answer this, that and the other, and I can check on this and retweet this and do some work stuff or responsibilities only I can do and I can’t have someone doing for me. So I’m usually sitting over there just buried in my phone.

I’m not in a hurry and I’m not a person going, “Drive faster” or whatever. I don’t complain or critique driving. I love to listen to the radio. It’s like, “Oh man, now I’m gonna play you a new song. You’re driving and I’m gonna sit in the passenger seat and I’m gonna enlighten you with some music you’ve never heard.” And you’re probably going to hate it. But I like to DJ and accomplish some work stuff and catch up on emails.

3. What is an app on your phone that you love using and think other people should know about?

When we started listening to music, especially on our phones, we went from vinyl to tape to disc to digital, and we had all this access just right at our fingertips to play any song you want. And then we thought, “You know what? Let’s listen to some records.” So we love the old school way of having to put a record on a record player, right? So going back to the way it used to be is kind of fun sometimes. It’s the nostalgia.

There are a couple of apps I have that play FM radio stations. And this is not a new thing; people probably know this really well. But there’s a particular radio station I like to listen to that plays a mashup of ‘80s hits — some standard rock, pop and different things like that. You can find these radio stations on a lot of different apps, but I use one called myTuner Radio or Listen.fm.

They’re very rough apps. They sometimes fail to load or whatever because they’re hardly making any money off of these and they hardly update them. But you can search like “Give me some ‘70s country,” and you get the commercials, you get the DJ and you get all of the inconvenience of standard radio.

I’m getting long-form here, but I recently got a beach house. And I was thrilled about that, because in my traditional mind, I’m like, “I cannot wait to load up all this stuff and take it out to the beach, and I’m gonna sit there and we’re gonna bury the kids in the sand, build sand castles and get under an umbrella. And we’re going to sit there for hours and drink beer.” It’s this idea of my childhood memories of what going to the beach was like, and I want to listen to traditional radio. I don’t want to create a Spotify playlist. I want to listen to a real radio station where the DJ is going around and now I’m gonna hear a song or two and I’m gonna hear some local commercials.

That’s part of the experience that puts you in the moment, and so that is exactly why I downloaded those apps, to be able to listen to that traditional throwback style of consuming music.

I also like how I can watch racing anywhere. So like the FloRacing, Racing America, DirtVision, all that stuff. We went from never having any access to anything like that to fully spoiled in warp speed. Any racetrack, any Friday or Saturday night show you want to watch. We went from zero to 100 and there was no middle ground!

And everybody’s just like, “Dang it! Why was the broadcast pixelated tonight? What’s going on? The audio isn’t good! That’s a terrible camera angle.” I’m like, “Yo, we didn’t even have this five years ago! What the hell?” (Laughs) I find it so fascinating. So I get a laugh out of people who complain about the broadcast from the local racetrack.

“I can’t believe this dirt track in the middle of nowhere with 200 people there and I can’t get a perfectly clear feed!”

Yes! “I need a full three-man booth with eight cameras and I want frickin’ replay.” And there’s one guy with a camera on top of this tower freezing to death and you’re listening to the track announcer. This is great! What’s wrong with this?

GO DEEPER

Changes to NASCAR's 2024 schedule? Amazon/ESPN in the TV mix? And more: Mailbag

4. What do you do to make yourself feel better when you’re having a crappy day?

The one thing that’s a sure fix is my wife. She’ll either console me a little bit, which is what I’m after, or she’ll say, “That’s nothing to worry about,” and she’ll make me realize how silly it is that I’m upset about whatever. So she’s definitely No. 1. My kids can change a mood in a minute — good or bad. (Laughs)

And music. I’m telling you, man — you know those days when you get up and you’re just like, “Ugh …?” You want to be happy, you want to be positive, you want to be excited about what’s happening, or what’s going on tomorrow. I need something to look forward to. I’m that person. I’ve just gotta keep putting something out in front of me in a 24- or 48-hour period. So I’m in a great mood until then, right? It’s these little checkpoints.

But I feel like some days you just wake up and you’re just kind of bummed or whatever. I find if I just listen to the right song or the right brand of music or genre, it completely changes my mood instantly.

5. I’ve asked readers to give me a life advice type question and I’m changing it for every driver. This person says: “I just got a new Tesla. My wife is the one who took delivery on it, so she had her phone set up to link with the car as a key. And they showed her how to do it for mine as well. As it turns out, she now has full ability to track me. I have an extremely boring life and nothing to hide, but the potential for being watched still does not sit right with me. What is the right way to ask her to remove access?”

I’ll be honest: So I and Amy share locations on our phones 24/7. And I like that. She doesn’t have to text me, “Where are you at?” Because that text of “Where are you?” has no tone to it. You could take it 100 different ways, right? A text conversation can go off the rails very quickly.

So she doesn’t have to wonder, “What are you doing? Where are you at?” She can look and see, “Oh hey, I see you’re over here. Would you go by Publix and pick up the groceries?” So we share our location and I’ve always kind of liked that.

But that doesn’t help this person; they want it to end. I think you just have to sit down and have that conversation and say, “Hey, can we talk about this? This is a new thing. You now have this access I didn’t hand to you or choose to give you and now you have it without me being able to just make a decision on that. I don’t like that or feel comfortable about it.” And maybe you can come to some sort of compromise.

But in the end, it’s probably a good thing you each know where the other is at. Even if you’re not checking it, the actual idea that you can gives you comfort, right? I can pick this (phone) up and go, “I wonder where Amy is at right this minute.” And there are times when I’m waiting on her to get home from a trip or make sure a plane lands safely and all those things and it’s so reassuring to go “OK, she’s in the car on her way.” … That’s some comfort and convenience you’re giving to your partner.

6. The next one is a pop culture or lifestyle debate type. We all have annoyances in our life and I picked out five things I thought might be mildly annoying to you. So rank these in terms of annoyance: “Bluey,” finding rats around the house, your kids both having colds at the same time, late start times for races and the Dallas Cowboys.

Alright, late start times is No. 1.

The most annoying? More annoying than anything?

More annoying than anything, yeah. I love the thought of knowing a race is going to start at 1 o’clock. And I know the start times have gotten a little more predictable, but they’re still like 2:30, 3, 3:30, 4, 7. I know when an NFL game starts: It’s the 1 (p.m. ET slot) or the 4 (p.m. ET slot) on Sunday. There’s no variation. And that’s what I want out of my sports. That’s what I want out of everything in life. So to have to look on my phone and go, “I wonder when that race starts? Is it 3? 3:30?” I don’t want to have to look.

And I remember getting home when the sun was still up. Even when I was young, I remember coming home and us having a little bit of time left in the day to actually have something to do instead of barreling into the house at midnight trying not to wake everybody up.

No. 2 is the kids having colds at the same time. It’s a cold that you’re gonna get. Everybody’s getting this. And oh man, you’re going to go through some Kleenex. Crazy.

I’m going to put the Cowboys down the list at No. 5. “Bluey” is probably No. 3. The thing that annoys me about “Bluey” is — I’m gonna be completely transparent — I think I’m a really good dad. I’m pretty happy about my dad-ing. I feel like I’m present in their lives, I’m available for them and they know where I’m at.

But we watch “Bluey” and the kids are like, “Come on, Dad, do this. Come on, Dad, pretend this.” So every episode, my kids watch Bluey and see the dad is like the kids’ best friend. Always available. Always there. Anytime they want the dad to get in on the fun or to play, he’s never too busy. He’s never got to go to work. He’s never got this thing he’s got to do or he’s never mowing the lawn and whatever, right? It’s always, “Yep, you got it. I’m gonna do what the kids want me to do and pretend with them.” So my girls, mainly Isla (who just turned 5), they have the same expectation of me.

Isla says this multiple times a day: “Hey, Dad, pretend this.” And I never say anything about it because I know you’re supposed to let them pretend. You’re supposed to let them create and imagine. But the dad on “Bluey,” he is setting these expectations for our own children that are unrealistic. Because my daughter thinks, “Oh, yeah, my dad should do that. My dad will do that. We’ll ask him to do it and he’s gonna do it.”

I’m sure some people will have different opinions about all that. I’d be curious to hear others’ opinions. I know somebody is going to say, “There will come a day when nobody is going to be asking you to pretend anymore and you’re going to be so sad.” And I know that’s coming. I’m not wishing my life away. But “Bluey” makes things challenging because the expectations are high.

So finding rats (is No. 4). I don’t like to find lots of rats. But if there’s a rat in the proximity of my home, I do want to catch it. I want to be the one that gets it so I know, “Hey, I’ve checked that off the list.” If you’re seeing the markings of an issue, you definitely want to bring an end to that. I had a vacation home that was in an area where if you left one piece of food in the trash that was accessible, you’re getting a rat. Anything that had food had to go into a sealed container or be sealed safely into trash before it would be taken away by the public system. I learned quickly how much of a rat problem you could have. And it was very satisfying curing all of those issues. That’s not that annoying, but I guess if it wouldn’t end, that would be a problem.

GO DEEPER

Watching with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as NASCAR returns to North Wilkesboro

7. This next one is a wild-card question. You’re going into your sixth season already as an NBC broadcaster. So it’s not new anymore for you. You’re a veteran broadcaster at this point. What do you still enjoy about the job that makes you want to keep coming back for more seasons?

What I love about broadcasting is talking about two cars battling. I always point to the 1979 Daytona 500 as the pinnacle of NASCAR broadcasting. To me, that is the gold standard in terms of delivery. Ken Squier and David Hobbs were in the booth that day, and the way Ken delivered his excitement for what he was seeing was so perfect. So when you feel like you get that right, that is such a great feeling.

Every time I go into a booth, I hope I get an opportunity to try to get it right. I’m not a play-by-play guy, but that’s a little bit of a play-by-play moment when you’re talking about a battle. Remember when we were at Kansas and Joey Logano was trying to beat Kevin Harvick? Me and (Jeff) Burton got to commentate a little bit and do some play-by-play-ish work in that moment. That is so fun.

The air blocking is annoying and it’s annoying for the fans to go, “Man, this faster car can’t pass.” But it was our job to make that exciting. It was our job to make you think about it differently and go, “Man, this is awesome. The faster car is trying to get around a slower car and it’s hard and it might happen. And if he pulls it off, oh man, we’re gonna be surprised.”

There was a battle for the lead between (Kyle) Larson and (Brad) Keselowski a couple years ago at the Charlotte Roval, and we got a couple laps — me and (Jeff) Burton — to call play-by-play. And I know that’s not my job in the booth, but every once in awhile, we get to do it, and I love trying to get it right. I love trying to match what I’m excited about and the energy I have for it, and I hope to convey it perfectly across to the fans so they go, “Dang right! That was awesome. That was a great moment.”

I feel like as a broadcaster, that’s your main responsibility. You go into that booth to make the fan at home realize how great a race it is in person. Even when you’ve got to carry a race that’s not quite as exciting, you don’t say, “It is what it is.” Your job is to make it something, make it exciting, find something to talk about, find the battles, point the cameras there. There’s never a race that doesn’t have something compelling going on. So you’ve got to keep searching and looking and find it.

That’s really interesting because if I was putting myself in your shoes and was up in the booth, sometimes I’d say, “Wow, this race sucks.” I understand what you’re saying though.

Well, you’re human and you have that moment of “Damn. The top five are spread out by 20 car lengths again.” But you’ve got to snap out of that really quickly and go, “I’m going to look for the battle. Where is it? Where is the race?”

I love working for NBC because all of the booth talent can say, “Hey, the battle for seventh is about to happen. The eighth-place car is catching him, he’s running him down” and the cameras will go there. They will trust us and take us to where we want to go. I really love that about my job. If I had to sit there and basically just talk about what was on the screen, that’d be frustrating, because I want to take you where I think the battles are. But if somebody was choosing what I was seeing and I had to narrate that, that would not be any fun.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the 'It' factor and treating people right: 12 Questions, Part 2

(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)

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