Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought back to his favorite times watching NASCAR Cup Series races at home, when the TV broadcasters would give out the complete starting lineup of drivers prior to the race’s green flag being raised. In particular, Dale Jr. remembered the skill of Ken Squier, who was the CBS Sports commentator for the Daytona 500. Before the race began, Squier would read out the full starting lineup while music played in the background, which would build suspense among the drivers and spectators. The owner of JR Motorsports posted his happy recollections on an X (formerly Twitter) conversation after a fan questioned current race commentator Mike Joy for Fox Sports, if he could read out the line-up during the broadcast instead of just the Top eight or 12 drivers.
Joy responded that the technique was no longer in use since, in addition to the other statistics that radio announcers used to read out, all of the information that they typically read was now available online. Joining the same post, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took a minute to reminisce about his time spent watching the Cup Series on television: “I still enjoy listening to it in its entirety. Ken reads the whole Daytona 500 roster quickly while a music track plays in the background. You had the impression that all of the drivers had just barely made it into the field, and that chaos would erupt when the green drop occurred. The primary commentator for the Daytona 500 was Ken Squier from 1979 to 1997, 19 consecutive seasons and almost the entirety of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s career in the Cup Series. Squier passed away in 2023, five years after being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. chooses to go back in time to the 1979 Daytona 500
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife, Amy Earnhardt, produce the podcast Bless Your ‘Hardt. In a recent episode, the former Cup Series driver was asked if he had a time machine, which moment he would return to for a full day. Earnhardt’s response came almost immediately, as he used the same 1979 Daytona 500 that Ken Squier had been announcing: “I’m going to the 1979 Daytona 500.” ‘The Great American Race’ was the first time the 500-mile NASCAR race was ever telecast live, from flag to flag, in 1979. With most of the country snowed in, the audience for the major race was at home, and Ken Squier’s commentary helped boost the popularity of NASCAR on that day. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ‘s team, JRM, participated in its first-ever Cup Series this season at the 2025 running of the Daytona 500.
