October 18, 2017 – Duke Men’s Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski will be joined by popular NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and former NBA and Blue Devils star Grant Hill for one-on-one interviews on the season premiere of Krzyzewski’s weekly SiriusXM show, Basketball and Beyond with Coach K. The show airs Thursday at 6:00 pm ET on ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM (channel 84 on satellite radios and the SiriusXM app) and will be available to subscribers after the debut on SiriusXM On Demand.

Dale Jr., who was voted by fans as NASCAR’s most popular driver 14 times during his career, discusses his decision to retire from full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition, following his legendary father into the sport, the future of NASCAR, and the recent news that he and his wife, Amy, are expecting their first child.

Hill, who won two NCAA Championships playing for Krzyzewski, talks about the FBI investigation into fraud in college basketball, and his involvement in the NCAA’s newly formed “Commission on College Basketball.”

Highlights include:

Dale Jr. on today’s young drivers being the key to NASCAR’s future popularity:

(Audio: http://bit.ly/2gOKxCg)

Dale Jr.: “We have a very young crop of drivers, and actually a lot of drivers coming into the sport all at once that have a tremendous appeal personality-wise that I think is going to help the sport in the next 20 years, in the next 10 years especially.  We have got a lot of veterans that are going to be around and still successful but there’s this really young group of guys, they grew up in the social media culture.  They know how to access and entertain and connect with fans. … I think that NASCAR needs to promote these kids to the fans, promote them outside of the NASCAR bubble to attract new fans, bring old fans back to the sport that may have left.  There’s tremendous opportunity there and that’s how it happens.  The cars are important, the speed, the thrill, the excitement of the racing is important but nothing is better and more profitable for the sport than the personalities behind the wheel.”

Dale Jr. on distinguishing himself from his father:

(Audio: http://bit.ly/2gtlp7f)

Dale Jr.: “I promoted myself as being different than my father and I wasn’t going to try to emulate him outside the car or inside the car.  A lot of people wanted me to be the same way he was, mannerisms and personality and so forth, and I wasn’t and so I tried really hard and maybe put in a little extra effort to show people that I was different and I liked different things and didn’t have the same personality or attitude and approach to my job.  And I think that that helped actually in the long run get me out from under those expectations and people could see me for someone solely as my own person.”

Dale Jr. on becoming a father himself:

(Audio: http://bit.ly/2ikdWb6)

Dale Jr.:  “You hear from everybody over the years, ‘This is going to change your life, it’s the greatest thing ever and there’s nothing like it.’ And it’s hard to understand what they are saying and what that means until you start to go through the very beginning of the process and that’s where we are right now.  And it is, it’s so real and there are so many emotions, all very good.  We’re really excited and can’t wait to go down this journey.”

Basketball and Beyond is entering its 13^th season on SiriusXM and features Coach K and co-host Dave Sims interviewing successful people from many different walks of life, including sports, pop culture, politics and more. Some of the high profile guests who have joined Krzyzewski on the program in recent seasons include New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick; former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, General Martin Dempsey, actor Rob Lowe, University of Washington head football coach Chris Petersen; University of North Carolina head basketball coach Roy Williams and many others.

Visit www.siriusxm.com for more details.