“I like that move for Dale Jr.” Denny Hamlin had delivered a positive verdict on a NASCAR veteran’s 2024 announcement. Last year in March, Dale Earnhardt Jr announced that he would join Amazon Prime’s broadcast team for 2025, having worked for NBC in the same role since 2018, and it was all thanks to NASCAR’s $7.7 billion media deal. 

“It is an exciting opportunity to have the chance to give our NASCAR fan base yet another way to watch the sport. It will be exciting to see the innovation that Prime Video is going to bring to our sport and the fans,” Dale said. 

Although Hamlin has no such problem with NBC, his primary concern was NASCAR’s 24-year-old media partner, Fox. Fox Sports has borne the brunt of thunderous criticism since last season. During the 2024 Cup Series season, the media giant made several blunders, from missing the crucial ending of the Daytona 500 race to misspelling drivers’ names. And Denny Hamlin cannot wait to tune into Amazon’s production.

Yes, a break from Fox Sports’ weekly dose of mishaps will be a good break for fans, especially after the fumbles began from the 2025 Daytona 500, when the broadcaster skipped the Air Force Thunderbirds’ flyover before the race. Fox faced allegations of prioritizing the 2025 IndyCar campaign, but neither could it live up to Roger Penske’s series either. The Thermal Grand Prix witnessed a blackout amidst coverage, leaving IndyCar fans confused.

Then, NASCAR legend Richard Petty went up to the Fox Sports booth and openly criticized the lack of sync between the broadcasters and the camera action. Petty said, “The big deal is, when I’m sitting here and see what I see on the TV and the race is really back about 15th or 20th. Them guys, they drive their fanny off every lap. I mean, they’re really racing back there, but you know, if you’re here you can see that. You can’t see it on TV.” And it wasn’t just that.” We saw evidence of that during the All-Star Race last weekend. When Michael Waltrip accidentally dropped the caution flag on the track, cameras failed to capture it. In fact, broadcasters talked about it for a whole 4-5 seconds before the camera finally panned to show the flag and Waltrip.

Hence, Denny Hamlin is getting impatient for Amazon Prime’s arrival in the Cup Series. That will happen in the upcoming weekend for the Coca-Cola 600, with Dale Earnhardt Jr gearing up for his booth duties. Hamlin said in a recent ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode: “Excited about that, excited to see what kind of production they bring to the table for most of the qualifying, practice, and all that stuff. It’s been essentially Fox just with Prime airing it, right? I want to see what Prime does. I want to see their own people, their own production people, their own directors.”

We’ve seen the difference changing broadcasters makes. CW moved to the Xfinity Series for the first time in Fall 2024, and did a remarkable job at the Bristol Night Race. They gave access to 100% of US households. And while ratings in 2024 didn’t show much change, the Championship race increased by 17% from 2023.

Denny Hamlin admitted that it has motivated him further to encourage Amazon Prime: “We saw just a small change in CW, right? I think myself included was very apprehensive when the Xfinity Series went to the CW. But they’ve just done a great job with their on-air talent, what they’re showing, how they’re showing it, more cars on track,” he then compared with Fox’s work, “not the zoomed in shots….It’s frustrating for everyone, but it’s time to shuttle in the new group and see how they do. They’ve got some great on-air talent that’s current, knows what’s going on, up-to-date, yeah. All those things.”

Besides replacing Fox, Amazon also has one other feature that would delight Denny Hamlin. A former NASCAR legend is returning to the sport after a long absence.

Welcoming back Cousin Carl

It is time to witness some athletic stunts on the track again. Carl Edwards won 28 Cup Series races and finished in the Championship runner-up twice across a 12-year illustrious career. During his time, Edwards was regarded as one of the most articulate and insightful drivers, quite like Denny Hamlin. He made a shock exit from NASCAR in 2016, but the memories of his brilliance have hardly faded.

In fact, Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team paid a tribute to Edwards in their Darlington paint scheme. Now, Hamlin would be able to witness his old teammate on the track after a long time. Edwards is joining Amazon Prime Video as a pre- and post-race studio analyst in Charlotte. He will partner in the on-site studio with host Danielle Trotta and fellow analyst Corey LaJoie.

Ahead of his grand comeback, Carl Edwards confessed his true objective. After spending so much time away, he wants to revive stories of the racetrack. He said in March: “The thing I’m excited about, and I feel like I can hopefully accomplish, is to get to talk a little bit about – especially since I’m not competing anymore, I got nothing to hide – there’s no trade secrets I don’t want to talk about. I want to share with the fans what might be going on inside of that helmet, inside of that car.” He added, “I want to ask the drivers, before, after, maybe away from the track, ‘What’s going on? What is really driving you? What are your fears? What are your hopes? What are the difficulties? What are the things that you’re so good at that maybe aren’t obvious for someone just watching the racing?'”

Clearly, Denny Hamlin has a lot to look forward to starting this weekend in Charlotte. We can only wait to see what excitement Amazon Prime brings to the table.