NASCAR: Tony Stewart replacements confirmed for Gateway
By Asher Fair
Kenny Wallace and Michael Waltrip are set to join the Fox Sports 1 broadcast booth for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Tony Stewart made his seventh and final appearance of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season in the Fox broadcast booth in Monday’s rain-postponed Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
His seven appearances rank most among all of the guest analysts who have joined Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer at some point this year.
Fox have taken the same approach this year as they took last year in terms of bringing in several individuals to join the full-time duo of Joy and Bowyer throughout their portion of the broadcast schedule.
This approach was introduced after Jeff Gordon’s departure following Fox’s portion of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series broadcast schedule.
Gordon’s departure ended a six-year run with the network which began in 2016, as the four-time Cup Series champion opted to instead focus on his new role as Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports.
Set to join Joy and Bowyer in the booth during this coming Sunday afternoon’s Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway are Kenny Wallace and Michael Waltrip. Note that this race is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, not regular Fox.
After this race, there is just one more race on Fox’s broadcast schedule before their return to three full-time announcers next year. Kevin Harvick is set to join the network as their third full-time announcer in 2024 following the conclusion of his driving career.
Fox most recently had three full-time announcers in 2021. In 2019, they had Joy, Gordon, and Darrell Waltrip all in the booth each weekend. Waltrip retired after the network’s portion of the 2019 broadcast schedule, and Fox stuck with just Joy and Gordon in 2020. Bowyer joined the booth in 2021 after his retirement from driving.
NBC and USA Network are set to take over from Fox for the remainder of the 2023 season following the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 11 (3:30 p.m. ET). No guest analysts for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 have been announced yet.
Following the lone off weekend of the 2023 season the following weekend, NBC is set to get things started on Sunday, June 25 with the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (7:00 p.m. ET).
dark. Next. All-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list
Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1 for the live broadcast of the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, June 4. If you haven’t yet begun a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don’t miss any of the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series action!