WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — When Dale Earnhardt Jr. was growing up, fewer Nascar races were televised than they are now. So he would tune his radio to listen to famous announcers like Barney Hall and Ken Squier call the action of his father’s races on the Motor Racing Network.

Hall and Squier made a lasting impression. Every time Earnhardt gathered with friends to simulate Nascar races with their Matchbox cars at his house, he was often not as interested in winning as he was in announcing.

“To me, that was as much fun as racing those Matchbox cars when I was a little boy,” a smiling Earnhardt said recently.

After driving at the top level of the sport full time for 18 years, Earnhardt, 43, embarked last month on a much-publicized second career as an analyst on Nascar races for NBC Sports. He wants to make it clear that he is not just along for the ride.