Dale Earnhardt Jr reveals Amazon did not care or want to talk about NASCAR feature

The NASCAR In-Season Challenge may be proving immensely popular amongst fans and drivers alike, but the new competition’s potential wasn’t enough to prompt coverage from Amazon Prime.

The streaming service, which agreed to a seven-year broadcasting deal with NASCAR in January, recently concluded its first year of Cup Series coverage with the Coca-Cola 600, the Cracker Barrel 400, the FireKeepers Casino 400, the Viva México 250, and the Great American Getaway 400. The latter three races served as the platform from which the seeding for the first round of the In-Season Challenge was decided, before a huge crash instantly busted brackets and Denny Hamlin offered a surprising verdic.t 

But despite the importance of these races in the inaugural year of this competition, Amazon Prime opted not to provide any commentary or coverage on the subject, a very conscious decision by all involved, according to Hall of Famer and broadcaster Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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“[NASCAR] tried to seed the drivers in three races, I believe, that were the backend of the Amazon deal. And Amazon didn’t really care about that,” he explained on the Dale Jr. Download.

“Well, we didn’t talk about it…I think NASCAR chose to say, ‘Hey, let’s seed the races in the Amazon portion of the season so that they can then drum up the excitement of the tournament as it plays out for TNT.'

“But Amazon was like, even us, the talent, were like, ’We’re not talking about that.’ I mean, there’s nothing…Yeah, so what, they’re seeding the drivers…We’re not going to do it, it wasn’t a story.”

Promoting a competition that would ultimately be broadcast by a rival network was clearly of no interest to Amazon Prime and Earnhardt Jr. As such, the racing legend suggested that in the future NASCAR simply does away with the three-race seeding system and instead seed drivers based upon their standings when the series reaches Round One.

Despite his qualms with how NASCAR handled the seeding, Earnhardt Jr. is clearly a fan of the Challenge which he labeled “fun as hell.”

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“The whole thing is only for enjoyment and entertainment,” he said. “I kind of like the fact that…the races are that unpredictable.”

The In-Season Challenge got off to a stunning start at the Quaker State 400, with multiple crashes, including a couple of mass pileups, wreaking havoc on brackets nationwide. Race winner Chase Elliott is the only driver with a win to his name this season, remaining in the Challenge as a result.

Next up is the Grant Park 165 on the streets of Chicago, where the final 16 drivers will compete to reach the third round in Sonoma a week later. Ultimately, whoever walks away from Indianapolis as the Challenge winner will be awarded $1 million, an amount Earnhardt Jr. said would be “life changing for a lot of drivers in the field.” However, for those for whom such a prize is less monumental, co-host T.J. Majors revealed some plan to divide the money among others should they win.