NASCAR announcer criticized for literally no reason at Talladega

Mike Joy responded after being ridiculously criticized following Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Talladega Superspeedway is known for producing surprising results and, in some cases, upset winners in the NASCAR Cup Series.

While two-time champion Kyle Busch can hardly be considered an upset winner, his GEICO 500 win fit the bill in terms of unexpected results.

Busch, who hadn’t won a single superspeedway race since 2008, despite the fact that he ranks ninth on the all-time Cup Series wins list, led only three laps of Sunday afternoon’s race.

He was one of 21 different drivers — more than half of the 38-car field — to lead laps in a race that saw 57 lead changes, and he finally got the chance to make a return trip to victory lane at the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval.

Busch inherited the lead late after an overtime crash — and missing his call to pit for fuel. In the following overtime attempt, he lost the lead to 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.

But on the final lap of the race, Wallace crashed while attempting to block Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney. Blaney lost momentum, and Busch was able to pull ahead of the No. 12 Ford before the caution flag flew.

Suffice it to say that Busch definitely “stole one” on Sunday afternoon, making him the third driver to win twice in 2023.

Fox Sports lead announcer Mike Joy made the same remark — and was ridiculously criticized for it, in a tweet that has since been deleted.

As he usually does when it comes to Twitter trolls, he responded with grace.

By no means is the remark a sign of disrespect. Not only is it a figure of speech used in literally every form of not only motorsport but sport, but it’s also a nod to Busch’s own comment about Alex Bowman “backing into a win” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year.

Busch himself backed into a win just a month later in the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading only the final lap when the two leaders collided. That win was his only win of the year, and it got him into the playoffs.

Kyle Busch even knew that his 62nd career NASCAR Cup Series win on Sunday was a “lucky” one.

When February’s Daytona 500 didn’t finish on lap 200 when it was scheduled to, Busch made sure to let everyone know that he was leading it when it was supposed to have ended — and when it would have ended in 1998, when Dale Earnhardt won it for Richard Childress Racing.

Aside from lap 35 in Sunday’s GEICO 500, Busch never took the lead prior to the conclusion of its originally scheduled 188-lap distance. He led laps 35, 194, and 196.

Sometimes, it is impressive what people will get upset and lash out about. You have to wonder if they really do misunderstand something, or they purposely misinterpret it for the sake of wanting to have something to complain about.

Announcers in any sport are an easy target, and Joy, for as respected as he is within the NASCAR community, is a popular one when it comes to social media trolls with nothing better to do than to try to bring others down.

Joy is set to be back in the booth with analyst Clint Bowyer and guest analyst Rusty Wallace for this Sunday afternoon’s Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. The race is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don’t miss it!