Mike Joy reads a lot of social media — probably more than he should.
While excited to return to the Fox NASCAR booth for another go-round, Joy acknowledges the responsibility of being the bridge and the voice of a major spectator sport in the United States.
He takes criticism in stride, even if it can be excessive at times.
And during a Q&A with The Athletic, he expressed as much as the 74-year-old Joy and Fox Sports are set to conclude the 2024 TV coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday.
The perils of social media aren’t something that’s lost on Joy, but neither is the privilege of being the voice of NASCAR on Fox.
“Well, I’ve never blocked anybody,” Joy told The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi. “Because I want to know what people are seeing and what people are saying. And sometimes it’s very complimentary. And sometimes it’s “What are you still doing here?”
But this openness comes at a double-edged sword. While Joy enjoys staying connected with viewers and their opinions through social media, the constant barrage of commentary, both praise and criticism, can be overwhelming.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows.
“There’s now a common thread of people saying that I’ve lost my fastball. And you know, maybe so. I can’t argue that,” he says. “There are a number of announcers on TV that sound more exciting, perhaps. But I’ve taken a lot of my cues from (former NASCAR broadcasters) Ken Squier and Barney Hall as I grew up in this business, and Barney, in particular, would get excited when things are really exciting. But otherwise, he wanted to be that kind of friendly, trusted voice, somebody who could toss in a good bit of history of the sport to help explain how we got to where we are and somebody who could be a great traffic cop and really pull the most out of the analysts.
“My job is to have people say at the end of the day, “Boy, Kevin Harvick really gave me everything I needed to know about this race, and Clint Bowyer really entertained me.” And if we can do that, then I feel it’s been successful. I love what I do. I love the people I work with, and I’d like to keep doing it as long as they feel that I can contribute enough for us to have a first-class telecast.”
And Joy certainly thinks he can contribute enough to keep broadcasting through 2025.
