NASCAR: Final decisions made for 2022 Fox booth

Fox Sports confirmed the final two drivers set to join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer in the NASCAR broadcast booth before NBC takes over.

Several individuals have had the opportunity to join lead announcer Mike Joy and analyst Clint Bowyer in the Fox booth for NASCAR Cup Series races throughout the 2022 season.

The third seat in the booth was vacated following Fox’s portion of the 2021 schedule, when Jeff Gordon stepped away to focus on his new role as vice chairman Hendrick Motorsports. He spent six seasons in the booth following his retirement from full-time Cup Series competition post-2015.

Fox could have opted to move forward with a two-person booth, like they did with Joy and Gordon following the retirement of Darrell Waltrip post-2019. But they went back to a three-person booth in 2021 with the addition of Bowyer, and even with Gordon out, they stuck with that approach in 2022.

However, they went about it slightly differently. Instead of naming another full-time analyst alongside Joy and Bowyer, they have filled the third spot with a number of different individuals. Some have spent multiple races in the booth, while others have spent just one and others have spent not even one.

With 14 Cup Series races in the books, we are nearing the end of Fox’s portion of the 2022 broadcast schedule. Just two more races remain before the switch to NBC, and both of those races are set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1.

Earlier this week, Fox confirmed which two individuals, both former Cup Series drivers, are set to occupy the third spot in the booth in these next two races.

Set to do so for this coming Sunday afternoon’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is Michael Waltrip, and set to do so for next Sunday afternoon’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway is Tony Stewart.

Michael Waltrip hasn’t been in the booth yet this year, though this brother Darrell made a one-off return for the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Easter Sunday in April.

But Stewart has. He was the first person to occupy the third spot in the booth this year, doing so for the preseason Busch Light Clash exhibition race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and then for the official season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

He returned for the race at Circuit of the Americas in late March, so his appearance at Sonoma Raceway, the site of his 49th and final Cup Series win, is set to be his fourth of the year, and Fox is set to end their portion of the broadcast schedule the same way they started it: with Joy, Bowyer, and Stewart calling the race.

The Enjoy Illinois 300 is set to be broadcast live from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 5. The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set to be broadcast live from Sonoma Raceway beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 12. Start your free trial of FuboTV now!