NASCAR: Who is replacing Darrell Waltrip in the booth?

Darrell Waltrip made his return to the Fox booth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. But who will replace him this weekend?

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and former full-time Fox NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip made his return to the Fox booth for Sunday’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He hadn’t been in the booth since June 2019, when he made his final appearance as a full-time commentator at Sonoma Raceway.

Waltrip’s appearance in the booth for the 2022 season’s ninth race made him the sixth different individual to join lead announcer Mike Joy and analyst Clint Bowyer in the third seat this year.

The third seat was vacated by Jeff Gordon, who left after six seasons following Fox’s portion of the 2021 schedule to take on a larger role within Hendrick Motorsports.

Fox opted not to fill it with a full-time analyst.

Three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart was the first individual to join Joy and Bowyer this season, doing so for the preseason exhibition race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the official season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

2003 Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth then joined them for one race at Auto Club Speedway before Danica Patrick joined them for the races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. Gordon made a return for the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Stewart came back for the race at Circuit of the Americas.

Seven-time champion crew chief Chad Knaus then took a turn in the booth for the races at Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway prior to Waltrip’s return for Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Who will join Joy and Bowyer for this coming Sunday afternoon’s race, the GEICO 500, at Talladega Superspeedway?

That would be 15-time Most Popular Driver Award winner. Earnhardt has plenty of broadcasting experience, having been an analyst in the NBC Sports booth since 2018 after he retired from full-time Cup Series competition. NBC is set for their first race of the 2022 season on Sunday, June 26 at Nashville Superspeedway.

As for Earnhardt’s somewhat surprising Fox appearance, the GEICO 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, April 24. If you have not started your free trial of FuboTV, be sure to do so!