NASCAR: Tony Stewart replacement confirmed for Martinsville

Tony Stewart won’t be in the Fox broadcast booth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, with Bobby Labonte set to join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer.

Tony Stewart was in the Fox broadcast booth for this past Sunday night’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, joining lead announcer Mike Joy and analyst Clint Bowyer for the fifth time so far in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Stewart also joined the full-time duo at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The Fox booth has featured a guest analyst, in addition to Joy and Bowyer, since the start of the 2022 season. Jeff Gordon had been the third full-time member of the team, but he left after the network’s 2021 portion of the broadcast schedule to focus on his new role as Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, ending a six-year run.

Stewart leads everyone in guest appearances so far this season, with the only other individual to make multiple appearances being Danica Patrick (Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway). Kurt Busch and Guenther Steiner both joined the booth for the race at Circuit of the Americas, and Larry McReynolds joined the booth for the race at Richmond Raceway.

However, it won’t be Tony Stewart in the Fox booth for this coming Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway.

2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte is set to join the booth for the season’s ninth race, the NOCO 400. Labonte also joined the booth for the May race at Darlington Raceway last year, along with Richard Petty and Bill Elliott.

Do make note of the fact that this race is on Fox Sports 1, not regular Fox. Only one of the season’s first eight points races was on Fox Sports 1 instead of Fox.

While Stewart won’t be joining the full-time duo in this coming Sunday’s race, the three-time champion is set to return the following Sunday afternoon for the race at Talladega Superspeedway. After that, he is set to take about a month off before returning for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28.

These two races are the only two races for which Stewart is currently set to join the booth before Fox’s portion of the 2023 broadcast schedule concludes at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 11. NBC is set to take over for the remainder of the season, beginning with the race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 25.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 this Sunday, April 16 for the live broadcast of the NOCO 400 from Martinsville Speedway. If you have not already started a free trial of FuboTV, do so now!