NASCAR announcer comes out of retirement for another race

Clint Bowyer retired from NASCAR competition at the end of the 2020 season, his 15th season as a full-time Cup Series driver. He has not been back in a car since, having joined the Fox Sports broadcast booth ahead of the 2021 season, joining lead announcer Mike Joy and, at the time, fellow driver analyst Jeff Gordon.

Bowyer spent Fox's portion of the 2022 and 2023 broadcast schedules in the booth with Joy, and after Gordon stepped away to focus on his new role as Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, Fox brought in various individuals from race to race to fill the third spot. Kevin Harvick joined the duo full-time in 2024 after his own Cup Series retirement.

Fox's portion of the 2024 Cup Series broadcast schedule wrapped up a few weeks ago at Sonoma Raceway, and less than three weeks later, Bowyer is set to get back in the driver's seat of a NASCAR vehicle and put on a helmet.

It was confirmed toward the end of May that Bowyer is set to compete in this Friday night's Truck Series race, the Rackley Roofing 200, at Nashville Superspeedway.

Bowyer is set to drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, and he is set to do so with Brian Pattie as his crew chief. Pattie sat atop Bowyer's Cup Series pit box from 2012 to 2015 during his time with Michael Waltrip Racing. They won three races together in 2012 en route to Bowyer's career-high runner-up finish in the standings.

Clint Bowyer set for NASCAR return

Bowyer's return means that both he and Harvick will have come out of retirement at some point during the 2024 NASCAR season.

Harvick stood in for Kyle Larson at Hendrick Motorsports in practice and qualifying for the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway back in May while Larson was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway practicing and qualifying for the Indy 500.

Bowyer has not competed in the Truck Series since 2016, when he drove for GMS Racing at Kansas Speedway and finished in fifth place.

The 44-year-old Emporia, Kansas native has never competed in a Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, and the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Lebanon, Tennessee oval was only added to the Cup Series schedule in 2021.

However, he does own an incredible record at the track in the Xfinity Series, having never placed outside of the top five in nine starts. He won there in 2005 when he drove for Richard Childress Racing, and across those nine starts, his average finish was an impressive 2.78.

The No. 7 Spire Motorsports team sits in fifth place in the owner standings with two wins, both courtesy of Kyle Busch, at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

Fox Sports 2 is set to provide live coverage of the Rackley Roofing 200 from Nashville Superspeedway beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday, June 28. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!