As he enters his final NASCAR race of his 24 year Sprint Cup career, Jeff Gordon is not only looking forward to racing for a fifth Sprint Cup championship this weekend, he is looking beyond for what to do in his post-retirement future. As previously announced in May, FOX Sports confirmed Gordon as one of their Sprint Cup analysts beginning next season with Daytona Speedweeks and the Daytona 500 in February in revealing their entire NASCAR broadcasting lineup for next year.
FOX Sports and their networks will air the first 16 Sprint Cup races of the season – ten races will air on regular FOX, including the Daytona 500 with FS1 airing six races.
Gordon joins FOX regulars Mike Joy (play-by-play) and fellow Sprint Cup champion driver Darrell Waltrip (analyst), who have been broadcasting for FOX since their first season in NASCAR in 2001. Daytona 500 winning crew chief Larry McReynolds will step aside for Gordon in the booth as he will provide in-race analysis at various points in the pit and garage areas during races.
As far as Gordon’s placement at FOX Sports, this couldn’t have come at a better time for the network. Gordon is racing his final race this Sunday at Homestead, Florida and has an opportunity to retire as champion in NASCAR’s highest division, something that has never happened before. Hiring one of the greatest NASCAR drivers as he has a chance to retire on top is huge for FOX and their NASCAR coverage.
Eric Shanks, President, COO and Executive Producer of FOX Sports said, “In 2016, we have the unique opportunity to take a four-time champion, Jeff Gordon, directly from the Chase to the booth, pairing him with Darrell Waltrip to offer fans seven championships’ worth of expertise. “Led by Mike Joy, one of the sport’s most talented play-by-play announcers ever, there is a ton of enthusiasm building around our 2016 talent lineup.”
Fox also revealed their plans for NASCAR’s two other national series, the XFINITY series and the Camping World Truck Series:
The NASCAR XFINITY SERIES returns to FOX Sports for the second consecutive season in 2016, with Adam Alexander once again handling fulltime play-by-play duties alongside analyst Michael Waltrip and a rotation of NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES drivers. In 2015, FOX Sports featured five Cup Series drivers in the XFINITY booth throughout the season, offering fans a variety of knowledgeable viewpoints. Neville, Hermie Sadler, Little, Welch and Yocum alternate to cover pit road.
For the 14th consecutive year, FS1 offers exclusive coverage of the entire NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES season. Welch, longtime pit reporter covering the Cup and XFINITY Series, moves into the Truck Series play-by-play role fulltime in 2016 with veteran analysts Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip. Welch, who also calls play-by-play for select FOX Sports college basketball games this season, pitched in to call Truck Series races on FS1 in 2015, as well as select NASCAR XFINITY SERIES races prior to joining FOX. Sadler leads pit road reporting with Yocum and Kaitlyn Vincie. FS1 telecasts 22 of the series’ 23 races live in 2016, while FOX broadcasts the October Talladega race.
In the studio, Fox will offer plenty of pre and post race coverage as well as continuing with NASCAR Race Hub, which has proven to be one of the few studio shows on FS1 to find a decent consistent audience, largely due to the other NASCAR programming featured on the network:
NASCAR RACEDAY, FS1’s popular prerace show, continues to deliver the excitement behind-the-scenes and up-to-the-minute reports from the garage prior to the start of each Sprint Cup race. Myers, Danielle Trotta and John Roberts share hosting duties, while the entire FOX NASCAR on-air team joins analysts Kenny Wallace, Jeff Hammond and Wally Dallenbach and reporters Alan Cavanna, Andrew Doud and Vincie.
In addition, FOX Sports offers a dedicated 30-minute prerace show immediately prior to each NASCAR XFINITY SERIES and NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES race. Trotta returns to host NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY with McReynolds and Wallace providing analysis. Roberts has the honors for NCWTS SETUP leading into all Truck Series races with insight from two-time series champion Todd Bodine and feature reports from Ray Dunlap.
NASCAR RACE HUB, the sport’s most watched news and information program, continues live at 6:00 PM ET every Monday through Thursday on FS1. Alexander, Trotta and Roberts co-host the hour-long program with analysts McReynolds, Hammond and Dallenbach, who are joined by a rotating team of active drivers and crew chiefs. The trio of Cavanna, Doud and Vincie are back with daily reports from NASCAR race shops, while Dunlap delivers Truck Series feature reports and analysis.
NASCAR RACE HUB WEEKEND EDITION once again is a Friday and Saturday fixture on FS1, delivering at-track updates and news as it breaks throughout the course of the race weekend, while NASCAR VICTORY LANE recaps each Sprint Cup Series race with highlights and analysis.
With all of these coverage plans released, there is no doubt that hiring Jeff Gordon for the network is the major headliner. My only concern is what Gordon will add to the broadcast that Darrell Waltrip didn’t provide already. With a commentary team of Joy, Waltrip and McReynolds, you had someone in the booth who could give analysis from a driver perspective and a crew chief perspective. Now, there will be two drivers in the booth. Like I said, McReynolds is still going to be a big part of the broadcast team, so FOX will still have that crew chief perspective albeit in a likely somewhat reduced capacity. And considering that there are other drivers and crew chiefs who are part of the broadcast, this move probably isn’t that big of a deal on the broadcast as a whole.
Having said that, it’s certainly understandable why FOX would hire Jeff Gordon as well as keep Darrell Waltrip in the booth. Waltrip is a favorite among NASCAR fans due to his folksy and down to earth commentary style while Gordon is a highly popular current driver about to enter retirement. Both are very important facets to FOX’s future in NASCAR coverage and would be more than willing to pair the two together with Mike Joy. It will be interesting to see Jeff Gordon go from driver to commentator as he’ll have a chance to talk about those who he raced against just a few months before. And he may be doing that with another Sprint Cup championship on the trophy shelf.
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About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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