MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 13, 2018) – Last night’s broadcast of the NBC Sports Network’s daily NASCAR-themed program NASCAR America ushered in the Dale Earnhardt Jr. era at the network, and he had old friend and former crew chief Steve Letarte at his side to boot.

The 43-year-old Earnhardt Jr., in the midst of his first season away from the cockpit, discussed Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix from the network’s studios in Stamford, Conn. Leigh Diffey and former driver Jeff Burton also joined the show.

Weighing in on the news of the weekend—specifically Kevin Harvick’s third straight victory last week at ISM Raceway—Earnhardt Jr. settled into his new gig as an analyst for NBC with aplomb. Nattily clad, he and Letarte offered an easy camaraderie reminiscent of their time together as driver and crew chief, with Diffey working as the pacesetter from the anchor chair.

 “I am really excited about it,” Earnhardt Jr. said of taking his spot on camera as part of the network’s NASCAR coverage. “I’ve had great opportunity the last several weeks to experience a lot of neat things with the Super Bowl and the Olympics in South Korea, so it’s been an amazing ride. I’m excited to be back with Steve, spending the weekends with him watching races and calling races. I’ve got a lot to learn from this guy over the next year.”

Letarte hit upon the crux of the pairing with his former driver. “I think it’s going to bring a unique perspective to know that we tried to compete at these race tracks together, and now you’re going to put us up in the booth to try and analyze how the guys still on the circuit are doing.”

In recapping the most recent event, at Phoenix, Earnhardt Jr., Letarte and Burton went through the key moments of Harvick’s victory, which capped the first three-race winning streak in the NASCAR Cup Series for the California driver. Other topics included the powerful performance of the four-car team at Stewart-Haas Racing, which put all four cars in the top 10 for the first time in team history, and the penalty Harvick’s team received for a wayward rear-window brace at Las Vegas. Earnhardt Jr. was impressed with Harvick’s poise in the face of that adversity, which cost him his car chief.

“I was impressed,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He didn’t dodge the media, he went to the media center and spent time on camera before the race. He handled that situation better than a lot of drivers would have. He’s really good at that track, came in with a ton of confidence and knew they were going to be a car to contend with.”

Harvick is very familiar to Earnhardt Jr., both on the track and as a past driver for his NASCAR Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports. Harvick is tied for the all-time lead in victories at JRM with six. His pairing with crew chief Rodney Childers was also discussed at length.

“It feels like they’ve been together more than five years,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “They’ve won so many races and a championship, and I think they are the new dominant pairing in the sport. They can win four in a row at Auto Club Speedway, the first time anyone has done that since 1991. That would be an incredible accomplishment.

“I think you have to go back and give Kevin some of the credit for how good those teams are, because I’ve had him come to work at JR Motorsports and be a part of our program. I know what he brings as a driver for an entire organization. He’s so smart outside the car as far as what he needs in engineers, crew chiefs, and he does so much outside the race car that not a lot of people know about.”

One of the most entertaining segments of Earnhardt Jr.’s debut on the show was the “Uncomfortable Interviews” piece with Rutledge Wood. In it, Wood asked current drivers what they thought Earnhardt Jr.’s catchphrase should be now that he’s a broadcaster and not in the car on race day.

The suggestions ran the gamut. Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin thought it would be something like, “Look out!,” with a thicker southern accent. David Ragan suggested that whatever the phrase would be, it would include the word ain’t, and Paul Menard theorized that the 15-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver would simply hum the Nationwide Insurance jingle. Chase Elliott, winner of JR Motorsports’ first of two NXS titles in 2014, was fond of “Hey, man!,” but the irrepressible A.J. Allmendinger delivered perhaps the best take.

“Right before the green comes out, he could say, ‘all right, people...let’s crack open a beer and bottoms up!’ and do kind of a Steve Austin, smash the cans together kind of thing,” Allmendinger suggested to Wood’s nodding agreement. ”Who wouldn’t love that?”

Earnhardt Jr., asked if he would go with Allmendinger’s suggestion, said, “Sure...” and looked at Letarte. “Will the bosses let me do that?”

We’ll find out what his catchphrase turns out to be when he assumes full-time booth work in the second half of the season.

If you missed the show, there’s ample opportunity to see Earnhardt Jr. again from Stamford...tonight from 5-6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.