Dale Earnhardt Jr. is set to rejoin the NASCAR broadcast booth with TNT Sports for the 2025 Cup Series coverage, a move scheduled to begin during the inaugural In-Season Challenge at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 28, 2025. This announcement comes at a turbulent time for the NASCAR community, as fans and experts alike debate the ongoing misfortunes impacting Brad Keselowski and the RFK Racing team. While anticipation for Earnhardt Jr.’s return brings excitement and high expectations, it is also laced with tension, reflecting NASCAR’s current struggles with unpredictability and shifting fortunes on the track.
Throughout 2025, RFK Racing has found itself wrestling with confusion and disappointment, despite entering the season with strong prospects. Persistent problems, including a devastating chain-reaction crash on Lap 150 during Atlanta’s Ambetter Health 400, have left drivers and spotters at a loss for explanations. Brad Keselowski, running solidly in the pack before the wreck, was sent out of contention when contact from Chase Elliott, after being tagged by Corey LaJoie, propelled Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford into the outside wall, resulting in a 39th-place finish. The aftermath prompted both fans and insiders to question if mere bad luck was to blame, or if deeper issues haunted the team’s season.
Earnhardt Jr., ever candid and insightful, fueled these speculations during a heated exchange on his popular podcast. Speaking with veteran spotter TJ Majors, he addressed the ongoing misfortune in a tone that mixed frustration with humor and a hint of supernatural suggestion.
“Are you gonna get a holy man in there? You need to bring somebody in there with the stones and the salt and all that… change the energy. Y’all need to have an exorcist,”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. quipped, giving voice to the exasperation brewing within the RFK camp and among its loyal supporters.
The tension was palpable as Earnhardt Jr. pressed Majors further,
“Man, when are you all gonna get it right? What’s going on with the sixth car? Y’all are having some bad luck. I am tired of this s—, TJ.”
His incredulity echoed the sentiment of fans who had watched Keselowski’s promising runs evaporate into disappointing finishes. The crash at Atlanta was only the latest misstep in a season marked by four DNFs, pit mistakes at Talladega, tire problems at Martinsville, and wheel issues at Richmond. Even with competitive pace inside the top five during races, results consistently fell short of expectations.
The struggles extended beyond Brad Keselowski. Chris Buescher, another prominent RFK driver, also found the 2025 campaign unforgiving. Despite tallying five top-10 results and one top-five, Buescher remained outside playoff contention, a stark contrast to his strong performances in 2024 and his breakout year in 2023. The string of misfortune even seemed to brush against drivers connected through technical alliances, like Ryan Preece of SHR. Preece, after displaying genuine speed at Texas and nearing victory at Talladega, was also caught in incidents beyond his control, feeding broader concerns about the Ford camp’s inconsistent execution this season.
As the pressure mounted, even experienced voices like TJ Majors offered little reassurance.
“That makes two of us, I don’t recall ever having a start of the year. If something’s gonna happen. I haven’t taken a race off, and we still lost a wheel. So I know it’s not me,”
he lamented. His words left listeners with a sense of uncertainty that drifted beyond simple racing dynamics into the realm of something harder to describe—a pervasive, almost superstitious sense of gloom enveloping the team.
Elsewhere, Ryan Preece’s misfortunes at the 2025 Würth 400—where a late-stage collision triggered by Carson Hocevar sent Preece and others into the wall—underscored the fragility of hope for any Ford-affiliated teams this season. Despite all cars reportedly running similar speeds and parts, the results diverged sharply from expectations, frustrating both participants and fans. Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured this paradox succinctly in discussions with Majors, highlighting the effect of NASCAR’s standardized Next Gen vehicle regulations, which, while intended to foster parity and cost control, may have muted the sport’s tradition of innovative strategy and teamwork.
Amid this turbulence, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s new broadcasting role has become a rare bright spot. Officially joining TNT Sports’ lineup, Earnhardt Jr. will be paired with Adam Alexander, a respected play-by-play commentator who previously helmed TNT’s Cup Series coverage from 2010 to 2014, and Steve Letarte, a former crew chief and seasoned analyst. The combination promises a blend of firsthand racing knowledge, technical insight, and accessible storytelling prized by fans who crave authenticity and depth from their race coverage.
For Dale Earnhardt Jr., the TNT booth offers more than just a new professional challenge. Since his retirement from full-time racing in 2018 to join NBC Sports, he has quickly established himself as one of motorsports’ most compelling voices. His “Slide job!” call during the 2018 Chicagoland Speedway finish between Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson became an instant classic, cementing his reputation for bringing emotion and analysis together in real time. His return, as confirmed by TNT Sports, adds new dimensions to his on-air presence, drawing both nostalgia from longtime fans and anticipation from a newer audience.
Of his formative days in the NBC booth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalled,
“I was standing there, and I was like, I ain’t said four words. I hadn’t said 10 words, maybe in the whole stage. I was so mad and frustrated. Burton, standing there next to me, elbows me and goes, ‘We ain’t going to step out of the way. You’ve got to get in here.’ He’s like, ‘You got to force your way in here. We’re not going to stop and wait on you.’”
His anecdote reveals the high expectations and intensity of the broadcasting role, as well as his willingness to confront its challenges head-on.
The format of TNT’s new NASCAR booth is designed to capitalize on Earnhardt Jr.’s reputation as a driver’s advocate and passionate observer of the sport. Close viewers expect that his broadcasts, starting with the In-Season Challenge at Atlanta, will combine granular technical analysis, strategic insight, and the emotional candor that has defined both his racing and media careers. For NASCAR itself, this move stakes much on the potential for knowledgeable, authentic coverage to reignite interest and confidence during a period of on-track volatility and off-track debate.
While fans celebrate Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s expanded media presence, the larger context of his new role cannot be separated from the disappointment gripping the wider Ford camp. With standardized cars and parts leveling the playing field but dulling creative flair, teams like RFK Racing struggle not just for results, but for control over their fate. Earnhardt Jr.’s commentary and advocacy offer a degree of hope, a reminder that expertise and passion can still shape the sport’s narrative, even as fortune grows fickle and adversity mounts. His prominence in the booth may create a pressure valve, channeling the audience’s restlessness into informed debate and, perhaps, a search for new solutions amid persistent misfortune.
The significance of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s appointment extends beyond mere nostalgia or the dynamics of the 2025 racing season. With TNT Sports investing in a blend of legacy voices and technical awareness, the move marks a pivotal moment for NASCAR broadcasting. The sincerity, frustration, and even levity Dale Earnhardt Jr. brings to discussions—no matter how superstitious, as in his half-serious call for an “exorcist” at RFK Racing—offer a rare window into the mental and emotional toll of high-stakes sport. His rise as a broadcast leader gives fans a champion not only for competitive racing but for the values of resilience, self-awareness, and accountability.
As the NASCAR season unfolds, the industry faces significant questions: Can RFK Racing reverse its luck, or are deeper systemic problems at play? Will the reimagined broadcast booth halt the sense of drift and frustration, reconnecting a fractured fan base with the sport’s heart and drama? What new stories will emerge when Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s commentary captures both the rush of competition and the sting of missed opportunity?
Looking forward, TNT Sports’ coverage, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at its center, may shape the direction of NASCAR’s narrative as much as the results on the track. If the energy and urgency glimpsed in the 2025 season—embodied in Earnhardt Jr.’s own blend of emotional truth and critical insight—becomes the norm, the next era of NASCAR commentary could be remembered not just for racing highlights, but for restoring a vital sense of clarity and connection during uncertain times. For Keselowski and RFK Racing, the search for answers continues, oscillating between technical fine-tuning and the intangible struggle against “bad luck.” Regardless, the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. ensures that, win or lose, the stakes will remain visible and the voices honest, at a time when the sport most needs both.
