NASCAR: Who is replacing Matt Kenseth in the booth?

Matt Kenseth was in the Fox NASCAR booth for Sunday’s Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway, but another former driver is set to be in the booth this weekend.

Entering the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Fox NASCAR booth was always going to look a bit different than it did in 2021, with four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon stepping away after six seasons alongside lead announcer Mike Joy.

The former Hendrick Motorsports driver moved on after six years in order to focus on his new role as vice chairman of Rick Hendrick’s team. Gordon, now the second-ranking member of the team to chairman and majority owner Hendrick, spent all 25 of his Cup Series seasons competing for the sport’s all-time winningest team owner.

The 2022 season was set to become the fourth straight season with a different booth. The 2019 season was Darrell Waltrip’s final season alongside Joy and Gordon, and he was not replaced for 2020, with Fox opting to go with a two-man booth. But Clint Bowyer joined the duo in 2021 after retiring from Cup Series competition.

And this year’s already-different booth is changing on a regular basis.

Opening the year in the third seat alongside Joy and Bowyer was three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, who was in the booth for the unofficial season-opening Busch Light Clash exhibition race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as well as the official season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

But this past Sunday, it was 2003 Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth who joined Joy and Bowyer at Auto Club Speedway. Unlike Stewart’s appearance, however, Kenseth’s appearance was a one-off, with Danica Patrick set to be in the booth this coming Sunday.

Patrick is set to do two races in the booth, including this coming Sunday afternoon’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox) as well as next Sunday afternoon’s Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, Fox).

Kenseth and Patrick were both confirmed at the same time (during the Daytona 500), so we should be getting another announcement as to who will be in the booth on Sunday, March 20 for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3:00 p.m. ET) and beyond.

Fox is set to broadcast the first 16 points-paying races on this year’s schedule, ending with the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 12. They are also set to broadcast the All-Star Race from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 22.

NBC and NBC Sports Network are scheduled to take over at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 26 with the Ally 400 following the lone off weekend on this year’s schedule.

They are set to broadcast the final 20 races of the season, including the final 10 races of the regular season and the 10 playoff races, concluding with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 6.

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