Denny Hamlin Joins Dale Earnhardt Jr in Exposing Fox’s Heavily Criticized Broadcasting Flaws

Fox Sports often gets criticized for its broadcasting flaws. Now they have roped in retired Cup Series veteran, Kevin Harvick to the commentary booth this year. While the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s insights and enthusiastic commentary are praised by many, the broadcaster’s production quality remains almost the same.

Cutting to commercials just when a race-altering development happens, and its odd camera angles are still garnering a lot of criticism even from industry experts like Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Speaking on his podcast Actions Detrimental, the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran cited Fox’s awkwardness, stating how Dale Jr might have taken a sly dig at NASCAR’s partner.

Denny Hamlin backs Dale Earnhardt Jr, mentioning Fox’s production

To be fair, the Fox commentary team is competent. Joined by Harvick, his former SHR teammate, Clint Bowyer and veteran commentator, Mike Joy, the Fox booth is pretty well-rounded. With the eccentric, outspoken voice of Bowyer, Harvick’s eyes for detail, offering more and more perspective, and Joy’s years of experience calling the shots, all seems good.

But the production team’s odd and dull camera angles have been a point of contention. Reflecting on this very aspect, Denny Hamlin mentioned the former NBC commentator, Dale Jr’s recent comments, saying, “I think it might be a slight dig at Fox on that.” He furthermore added, “He already talked about their camera angles and…I didn’t pay attention to it as much until… I watched the race back late last night. And yeah, they zoom in as soon as the cars are getting closer to you, they zoom in on them and it’s like, it’s the opposite of what you’d think, but I mean they’re the professionals in it, but yeah, I agree, you want to see more on screen and I really like to see Fox just change some stuff up for sure to get a little better.” 

Despite being one of fans’ favorites during the early 2000s, Fox Sports has now become notorious for its ad campaigns, with the production team more focused on brand endorsements than the actual race itself. Beyond that, in recent times, the broadcaster has become infamous for cutting to ads when the racing is at its peak, taking away the excitement and ruining the moment for fans at home.

With that being the case with Fox, NASCAR’s second partner, NBC, which would air the later part of the schedule, also took one with Junior, leaving their side for a new opportunity.

Dale Jr leaves NBC for WBD and Amazon

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NASCAR veteran and the sport’s biggest name, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is reportedly leaving NBC for Amazon Prime Video and Warner Bros. The NASCAR analyst is planning to take the 2024 season off and then resume his broadcasting role in 2025, when WBD Sports and Amazon begin coverage, according to a report from ‘The Athletic’. As per the recent updates, Junior, 49, informed NBC of his move last week.

Joining the NBC team in 2018, Dale Junior quickly became a solid presence in the booth, bringing his unfiltered passion and enthusiasm to the panel just after retiring from racing. Both WBD Sports and Amazon will have five races each, starting in 2025 as they join Fox and NBC as NASCAR’s TV partners. WBD will be broadcast on TNT with the live stream on Max.

Losing a big name like Junior is certainly going to leave a void in the NBC panel. On the bright side, WBD and Amazon played a masterstroke, roping in the veteran adding more credibility and showing their commitment.

READ MORE: Dale Jr’s Xfinity Star Deems 2024 “A Year From Hell” as He Dissects Heartbreaking ‘200-Lap’ Narrative