Did NBC 'Scold' Dale Earnhardt Jr.? NASCAR Icon Addresses Nasty Rumors

Did NBC scold Dale Earnhardt Jr. for watching the track instead of the monitor in front of him while calling NASCAR races?

That's the nasty rumor that started on Reddit in the wake of Junior's breakup with the network last week, and it wasn't the only one. 

In fact, the rumor mill started to churn so hard in the days after the divorce that Earnhardt Jr. himself had to step in and address a couple of them. 

Bottom line, at least if you believe Dale: it was an amicable breakup. 

"This is all untrue," tweeted Earnhardt Jr. "NBC is not considering a remote booth and I was never scolded for anything. NBC was amazing and everyone there taught me a ton. I promise that’s the truth. Nothing but respect and love for everyone there that I came into contact with."

NBC and Dale Earnhardt Jr. divorce bad for NASCAR

Now, I know what you're thinking – what else did the tin-foil hats say to anger Junior? 

Well, the original thread was deleted after the NASCAR HOFer pushed back and squashed everything like a bug. 

The two that caught the most traction, though, were that Junior was scolded by execs and that he wasn't happy with a rumored move to all-remote broadcasts. 

That ain't true, yelled Junior – channeling his inner Mike Gundy!

That above tweet came less than a week after Junior and NBC parted ways shortly after his contract expired. 

After six years with the network, Earnhardt will take the year off from calling races and then head to Amazon next summer, when the streaming service joins the sport for 10 races in the summer. 

I said it last week, and I'll say it again now – it's an absolutely awful look for NBC. Great for FOX, Amazon and TNT. 

Bad for NBC. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only watchable part of that broadcast booth. You know, and I know it. Any sane NASCAR fan knows it. 

And now he's gone. Poof. Just like that. 

The worst part of the whole thing is, we won't get to hear Dale Earnhardt Jr. call a NASCAR race until June 2025. That's a disservice to us, frankly. 

Thanks, NBC – even if you did nothing wrong.