The biggest name in NASCAR is on the move.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves NBC and starts racing with newcomers Amazon Prime Video and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, according to sources briefed on his decision. The Athletics.

Earnhardt is expected to take this season off and then resume his broadcasting career in 2025, when WBD Sports and Amazon begin their coverage.

The numbers give WBD Sports and Amazon immediate credibility as they begin their series. Each will have five races per season. WBD Sports’ races are broadcast on TNT, streamed on Max and have a Bleacher Report component. NASCAR complements WBD Sports’ robust NBA, NCAA Tournament, MLB and NHL schedule.

Amazon Prime Video’s subscription service already offers exclusive NFL games on Thursday nights and is one of the leading candidates to add the NBA as the league determines its partners in upcoming negotiations.

Earnhardt informed NBC of his decision last week, according to sources familiar with the conversations. Although Earnhardt is expected to take a year off, he does have the flexibility to make another deal with either of the two broadcast partners, Fox and NBC. There are currently no substantive discussions with either of them.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is beloved throughout the NASCAR world and has made numerous contributions to NBC Sports, from his work as an analyst on our NASCAR coverage to his experiences as a correspondent on major events such as the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl and the Olympic Games ,” a spokesperson for NBC Sports said The Athletics. “We thank Dale and wish him the best for the future.”

Earnhardt said on his podcast in early February that he hoped to stay with NBC, even as he acknowledged he does not have a contract until 2024.

“I absolutely love being in the broadcast booth and want to continue doing that,” Earnhardt says said on his podcast, “Dale Jr. Download.” “We’ve had great conversations with all of NASCAR’s TV partners. My home and my love are at NBC, and I would love to be with them again. So we’ll see where it goes.”

Earnhardt, 49, joined NBC in 2018, immediately after retiring from racing.

NASCAR has moved to four partners in its latest TV deals, sticking with incumbents NBC and Fox, which will continue to broadcast 14 races in 2025, along with 10 from WBD Sports and Amazon. The total NASCAR deals are for seven years and are estimated at $7.7. billion dollars in total. The current season remains exclusive to Fox and NBC.

In 2025, Amazon and WBD Sports join the coverage, each building around Earnhardt.

Required reading

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

HAMPTON, Ga. — The move was chilling. Dazzling. Austin Cindric went for it, four wide for the lead through the tri-oval into Turn 1. This would surely end in disaster.

But on Sunday night in this second race of the 2024 NASCAR season, to everyone’s surprise, the bold move actually worked, with Cindric shooting into the lead without incident.

“That was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” said Cindricus. “… It’s not easy to do, but I think that’s why they call us the best in the world.”

At this point, the much-maligned Atlanta Motor Speedway became the new favorite track for NASCAR fans. And it’s not like Cindric’s pass was the highlight. Things only got better from there, ending with a legitimate photo finish that saw Daniel Suárez beat Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch by 0.003 seconds, the third-largest margin of victory in Cup Series history.

Can you believe this finish!? pic.twitter.com/zKwqYNRQbG

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 26, 2024

“Holy s-! That was so close,” Blaney said of seeing a replay of the finish for the first time.

From start to finish, Atlanta offered a little bit of everything. Just what you want from a race at NASCAR’s highest level.

All 400 miles were intense racing, never a moment of boredom as the drivers barely held on – and sometimes lost control – on a track that honed their skills. Sometimes races on a drafting circuit give the appearance of drivers having it easy, giving the unfair impression that anyone could do this if given the right opportunity.

There was none of that Sunday night. Every lap was a grind, with the real potential of making a serious mistake, like when Denny Hamlin ran over the nose of Kyle Busch’s car or when Chris Buescher lost control exiting Turn 4 early in the race , or when Joey Logano drifted high on the exit of the turn. 2 by the end of phase 2.

Problems in the last lap of the stage! pic.twitter.com/FXNmRF1IZ2

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 25, 2024

This was NASCAR’s best performance all the way. And sometimes beyond.

“A little bit of a surprise party around every turn,” Martin Truex Jr. said. to Fox Sports’ Kevin Harvick during a red flag stoppage. “As crazy as it is, it was also kind of fun.”

Todd Gilliland, who led a race-high 58 laps, said: “It’s like going to a haunted house, you know? It’s fun, but at the same time I fear for my life.”

If anyone didn’t enjoy Sunday’s race, it might have been those behind the wheel. Drivers found themselves in the awkward position of competing on a track that combined elements of superspeedway racing – driving in a tight group with little escape when problems arise, and controlling the draft – with elements found on a traditional intermediate track would see. — tire wear, cars sliding around and navigating traffic.

Races on unchallenging tracks often lead to forgettable events, while the best races often take place on tracks that push drivers outside their comfort zone. Even though the drivers didn’t enjoy it on Sunday, the race was an instant classic, exactly the kind that fans will talk about for years to come.

And the majority of drivers seemed to embrace the moment and enjoy the flow of the race.

“It was a super cool race,” said Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished in sixth place. “I think the fans got their money’s worth.”

Even Kyle Larson, who crashed out of the race and has never been a fan of superspeedways, was complimentary.

“I actually had a lot of fun today,” he said. “It was super intense and it was a great race.”

Drivers speaking positively about Atlanta is quite a turnaround considering the vitriol directed at the track since it was converted from a traditional intermediate circuit to its current form in 2022. Many within NASCAR wondered why track owner Speedway Motorsports brought a bulldozer to a beloved track. oval in favor of a redesigned configuration that reduced their power.

To them it felt like sacrilege. This was not what NASCAR was supposed to represent. The animosity only deepened when it was announced last fall that Atlanta’s second date would shift to the playoffs, kicking off NASCAR’s championship round.

Drivers have almost come to hate Atlanta. Both for what it demanded of them and what it represented in the ever-changing balance between entertainment and sports, with the former seemingly deemed more important to NASCAR’s growth. No wonder then when The Athletics conducted an anonymous survey last week asking the people in the garage which race they were least looking forward to; Atlanta’s two races topped the poll.

One wonders how those surveyed would react now. Atlanta wouldn’t rank as the worst track after all. Heck, it might not even get one vote.

“I don’t know if you can get more out of a NASCAR race than we saw tonight,” said Justin Marks, Suárez’s team owner at Trackhouse Racing. “I was a complete race fan tonight. I just kept holding on every lap. Then you have the three-wide finish, and from entertainment value alone it was an incredible race.

“This is one of the most compelling races I think you could ask for as a sport.”

High praise, but also deserving. Because while Atlanta may have been loathed before Sunday, it is now the track that hosted one of the all-time races in NASCAR history.

(Photo of the tight finish of Sunday’s race, with Daniel Suárez’s car trailing Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A prospect not to be missed. Child prodigy. Future superstar. These are all labels placed on William Byron as he climbed the NASCAR development ladder. Some drivers who receive this heavy praise fail to live up to expectations. Somewhere along the way the rocket fails and the once promising career does not go as expected. They plateau. The opportunities don't work out.

It's a story that has played out many times in NASCAR history. But Byron is quite an exception. At 26 years old, he has already proven to be the can't-miss prospect.

He won a big win in his only year in the Truck Series in 2016. He won the 2017 Xfinity Series championship as a rookie. Since his Cup debut, he drove for Hendrick Motorsports, earning Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2018 before qualifying for the playoffs the following season and every season after that. And after his Daytona 500 win on Monday night, he now has 11 victories at NASCAR's highest level. That figure may seem low at first glance, considering Byron is in his seventh year in Cup, but since 2020 – the season in which he won his first race – his 11 wins are more than former Cup champion Joey Logano (9 ), Martin Truex Jr. 8), Kyle Busch (7) and Brad Keselowski (5) have done so in the same period.

Whatever 'it' is that separates great drivers from merely good drivers, Byron has it in abundance. And he will only get better as he gains more experience. His first taste of racing came through iRacing, an online racing simulation, and he didn't start driving real race cars until his teens, unlike most other Cup drivers who started much younger with Legends or go-karts.

“That talent is one thing, but then the racing craftsmanship and the work ethic and all the other things that go with it,” said Hendrick vice chairman Jeff Gordon as he celebrated in victory lane. “How you communicate what a race car actually does, so that your team can make it go faster and how you work together as a team. That's what's remarkable to me. And it's clear that he's unique and special in a way that…'

Before Gordon could finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by the roar of the ongoing Xfinity Series race. Nevertheless, his point was clear: Byron is a unicorn. A generational talent who has risen with every step to meet the expectations set before him, no matter how high the bar is set.

“Everyone said he had a natural talent,” Byron's mother, Dana Byron, said of her son. “He figured it out so quickly (when he first started racing) that after a few months he was beating everyone. Not at first and then he just kept studying and studying and practicing.”

Byron may not have needed a Daytona 500 win to cement his status as NASCAR's next superstar. Last year he already left his mark on the breakthrough 2023 season, which included winning the best six races of the series and taking first place in the top five, top ten and average finishes, as well as second place in the number of laps ahead.

But one great season doesn't define a career or create a legacy. This comes over time, piling one great season after another, filled with gaudy stats like Byron achieved last year. If you do this just once, people tend to throw around the dreaded “F” word (coincidence).

Byron, a student of the sport, understands this reality. He's seen drivers make big profits one year, stumble the next, and never regain their winning mojo. Those around him say this is part of what motivates him. Team owner Rick Hendrick described Byron as someone who had a “chip” going into the 2024 season, and Byron agreed.

“I don't know if I'll ever get that chip off my shoulder,” Byron said. “It's always been there. I'm just very quiet about it. Don't know. There are always reasons to be found. We didn't win the championship (last year when he finished third), and we're not the most talked about, and other people get more publicity, things like that, and I feel like I just – whatever I think , I use as motivation.

“That's how I've always been internally. I don't express that very often. But it definitely burns inside. I feel like this is often the fuel for your offseasons: just what I can find, whatever little edge I can find to be the best. There is still a lot to learn. I can be much more complete in the car, and I feel like your racing skills and things are always evolving, and just trying to be a better version in the car with my team.

Even within the Hendrick organization, Byron is often seen as the “other guy,” something he readily acknowledges – and that provides extra motivation. When your teammates include Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, both former Cup champions who are widely considered among NASCAR's elite, it can be easy to be overlooked.

The only way to change this perception is to win, both races and championships.

“I use it all as fuel, so keep it coming,” Byron said. “All the preseason predictions and stuff.”

But what Byron is, and what Larson and Elliott are not yet, is a Daytona 500 winner. Within Hendrick, only Byron bears this distinction. He also has more wins than Larson and Elliott since the start of last season.

“Today was a big step,” Gordon said. “I think he's on a roll for last year's Championship Four and then the Daytona 500.”

At this point, Byron drove home in front of a national television audience Monday night, emphatically announcing his status as NASCAR's next superstar. Not only has he arrived, it's clear he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

(Top photo: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500 twice in his first seven seasons, adding another win six years later in 2005. He thought there would surely be more to come.

After that, Gordon never won NASCAR's biggest race again.

“You get frustrated with, 'Man, what else am I doing?'” Gordon said.

The answer, strangely enough, was nothing.

Such is the nature of this NASCAR race, a crown jewel that represents a unique contrast in the field of top sporting events: It is NASCAR's Super Bowl in many ways, but also remains one of the least reliable indicators of greatness.

Some of NASCAR's most legendary names, such as Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin, never won this race. Meanwhile, five of the last seven Daytona 500 victors have gone winless in the season's remaining 35 events.

“You would assume that in the biggest race of the year, the best teams and drivers would always win,” said Joey Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 winner. “But that's not the case.”

Logano brought the fastest car to this year's 500 and qualified on pole position for the first time in his career. But the style of racing on NASCAR's so-called “superspeedways” like Daytona means there are no guarantees Logano will perform well in the race, when more than three-quarters of the field has a legitimate chance to win. (The race, originally scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed to Monday at 4:00 PM ET due to rain.)

The reason is rooted in safety concerns. If NASCAR Cup Series cars were allowed to drive unrestricted on Daytona's high-altitude, 2.8-mile course, they could reach a top speed of 200 mph, putting competitors and fans alike at greater risk.

By requiring every car to have a “tapered spacer” – a hole-filled aluminum block that reduces airflow to the engines – NASCAR limits speeds to prevent cars from becoming airborne and flying into (or through) the fences that separate the fans. of the race track.

But there is a side effect. The reduced horsepower means that cars typically run in giant groups and drivers must rely on help from other competitors to get around the track. Otherwise, they risk falling helplessly behind and not being able to catch up as the field rushes into the distance.

That dramatically increases the odds on two fronts: one, as-yet-unheralded underdog could stay among the elite long enough to pull off a shock victory; and second, even a small error or mistake by one driver in the pack can cause a major multi-car accident known as 'The Big One'.

“You're not going to be in complete control of your destiny, and I just accepted that,” said defending NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney, who has never won the Daytona 500 despite being one of the top superspeedway racers. “I'm going to do my best to stick with this, and if I get swept away by something that's not my fault, I'll think, 'What can you do?'”

When Christopher Bell won the Daytona 500 qualifying race on Thursday night, he acknowledged that he believed this style of racing was “100 percent luck.”

In reality that is an exaggeration. While luck undoubtedly plays a role at Daytona, it's not everything.

“I used to think this race was more luck than skill, but as I've studied more, the same guys are always at the front,” said Kyle Larson, known as one of the most talented American drivers of his generation. “Those guys aren't luckier than everyone else; they are really talented when it comes to this style and they have a good sense of how things work and where to be at the right time.

Becoming a top superspeedway racer requires a different set of skills than typical tracks, which are more about drivers making their cars handle better (and therefore go faster) than the competition.

At Daytona, the best drivers have excellent racing skills – knowing when to risk a move and when to stay put – and an innate sense of avoiding danger. Combined with these things, they also need smart strategy calls from their teams, quick pit stops from their teams and of course luck.

“The smart ones can navigate through (the danger) or know, 'I've got to get out of this' — or they're already ahead of it,” said Tyler Reddick, who has crashed in all five of his Daytona races. 500 started but won his qualifying race on Thursday. “The drivers who win this will be the ones who stay calm and make good decisions as the race comes to an end.”

Although it was mythically said that the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. 'could see the sky', the reality of modern drivers is that they have to see the video. Together with their spotters, who tell and even dictate what moves to make from positions high above the track, drivers study films of previous races to understand which moves work, which backfire and which cause big crashes.

Some teams track analytics such as the best running positions in the pack that correlate with success. But even then, there are still so many elements they have no control over.

For example, Brad Keselowski has led the most laps in each of the last two Daytona 500s – part of the 177 career laps he has led in this race – but has never won it. Now 40 and running out of time to claim a Daytona 500 crown, Keselowski said he would trade leading those laps in exchange for leading the last.

“You go to the Daytona 500 and you've done all this prep work… and more often than not the result feels undeserved anyway,” he said. “Like many things in life, you just have to acknowledge that it's not always fair, accept it and move on. But it is certainly difficult to reconcile.”

Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are among the current Cup Series champion drivers nearing the end of their careers without a Daytona 500 victory. Busch has said he wants to win the 500 more than any other achievement, but also acknowledged that “it's just one race.”

Drivers in the NASCAR garage continue to struggle with that dichotomy; as Gordon said, “Someone is going to win this race, and there is no other victory like it.”

On the other hand, as Logano noted, a Daytona 500 trophy – or lack thereof – does not define a driver's career.

“It's an incredible statistic to have on your resume,” Logano said. “That part is fantastic. But if you had to choose between winning 15 Cup races in one Daytona 500, you would probably prefer to win 15 Cup races.”

(Top image: John Bradford / The Athletics; Photos: Jared C. Tilton, Jonathan Ferrey, Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

By Tom Chesshyre

Published: 04:04 EST, February 16, 2024 | Updated: 04:06 EST, February 16, 2024