NASCAR veteran quizzed by Michael Jordan over shock exit

Veteran NASCAR announcer Rick Allen has revealed that NBA legend and 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan had questions for him after he was removed from NBC's Cup Series coverage last year.

Allen was bumped down from the network's Cup Series coverage to their Xfinity Series broadcasts, without any clear public explanation for the decision.

The popular announcer was told before the season that he would be replaced by Leigh Diffey midway through the year, but was instructed not to speak about the move (which leaked to the media long before it was made official).

Speaking on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s podcast this week, Allen has admitted that he wishes he'd pushed back on that instruction, with the quiet demotion creating the public impression that he'd done something wrong to get the chop.

Allen: Jordan thought I'd done something wrong

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, he said: "Looking back on it, I think it looked bad. Like again, public perception was I had done something wrong. It hit me like a ton of bricks."

"We were at Michael Jordan's golf course. The first thing that Jordan says to me, 'What'd you do man? How come you aren't announcing the races? You're NASCAR'.

"I sat there and I was like 'oh my'. Not only does Jordan know who I am, which I was like wow, okay. He thought I had done something wrong and that's why they put Diffey in.

"By me not saying anything, and the way NBC did it, I think it looked like I had done something wrong and that's why I wasn't [on anymore]. And so I think I would have been more vocal, just so the people know it wasn't my choice."

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