Continuing with its season-long tradition of having one guest announcer in the FOX Sports booth alongside regulars Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer, the network will do the same for Sunday’s race at Bristol, but the third member of the broadcast team will be the most familiar of the bunch. That’s because the “guest” will be none other than NASCAR Hall of Famer, three-time Cup Series champion and former FOX Sports race announcer Darrell Waltrip, who spent 19 seasons calling races for FOX Sports prior to his retirement from the network at the end of the 2019 season. Waltrip, who became most well-known on the FOX broadcasts for his “boogity, boogity, boogity, let’s go racing, boys!” exhortation at the start of each race, is eager to be back in the booth, if only for a day.
"I’m thrilled to have the chance to drop in and call the Bristol Dirt Race," said Waltrip, the winningest driver at Bristol with 12 Cup Series victories all-time. "When FOX first asked me, I was super-excited because Bristol is, by far, my favorite track. If I could pick just one race to call, it would be Bristol.” While Waltrip is no stranger to calling races alongside Joy, who likewise joined FOX’s NASCAR broadcast team in 2001, he’s not as accustomed to being in the booth with Bowyer, who like himself is a former driver at NASCAR’s highest level.
“After a couple of seasons retired from the FOX booth, I’m really looking forward to being back up there with Mike and now with Clint,” said Waltrip, an 84-time Cup Series winner. “But I really feel sorry for Mike — he always had his hands full with me, but now he has double trouble with Bowyer and me. It will be a blast. I still watch every single race, and I am excited about seeing the new car on Bristol Dirt.”