Dale Earnhardt Jr. will work Super Bowl, Olympics for NBC

Nearly every day brings a new experience for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who spent the first 42 years of his life living in a bubble that consisted of NASCAR and not much else. Now that he has retired from full-time racing, he has time to experience new adventures. Just last weekend, he went to brunch — his first brunch ever — with his wife and friends, then was persuaded to get his first pedicure. NBC Sports announced Tuesday that it will use Earnhardt in its pregame show before the Super Bowl, then send him to South Korea for the network’s coverage of next month’s Olympics. Earnhardt retired from driving in November and signed on to be an analyst for NBC Sports, a gig that begins in July. “It’s not going to be putting me anywhere outside of my comfort zone. Obviously I’ve never been to a Super Bowl or South Korea,” Earnhardt told the Associated Press. “What they are asking me to do is just go out there and be myself and hopefully get people interested in tuning into NASCAR.” NBC plans to use Earnhardt at the Super Bowl in outdoor events and activities taking place in Minneapolis in the days before the game. At the Olympics, he’ll visit the speedskating venue and accept a recent social media invite from American bobsled team pilot Nick Cunningham to ride in a bobsled.