Bowyer has had an increased role in Fox's coverage of NASCAR as of lateGETTY IMAGES
NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer will retire at the end of the current season and "join the Fox Sports booth as an analyst," according to Jenna Fryer of the AP. Bowyer has had an "increased role in Fox's coverage of NASCAR and at the start of the pandemic was an in-studio analyst at the same time he was participating in the televised iRacing events." Bowyer announced Thursday night that he is "moving full-time into television" in a two-page letter later posted to Twitter, writing, "I have a new opportunity to do what's next in my life. In 2021 my suit will no longer be fireproof. I will be joining the Fox booth on Sundays." Fox "dropped to a two-person booth this year of Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon following the retirement of Darrell Waltrip." Bowyer replaced Tony Stewart driving the No. 14 Ford at SHR "when Stewart retired after the 2016 season," but his "future with the organization has been in question" (AP, 10/8).
STAND IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU WORK: NBC Sports' NASCAR booth talent will call the final five Cup Series races in person, starting with this weekend’s race at Charlotte and then traveling to the final four. The booth talent have almost entirely been calling their half of the season remotely from Charlotte Motor Speedway -- save for analyst Steve Letarte traveling to Talladega last weekend -- due to the network’s efforts to reduce travel during the early stages of the pandemic. But now, play-by-play man Rick Allen and analysts Letarte, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton have been asking the net to let them call the final handful of races in person. NBC Sports Senior VP/NASCAR Production Jeff Behnke said the talent feels like looking over a track in person "helps them anticipate things that are about to happen, as opposed to seeing it as it happens (on a monitor)." After Charlotte, NASCAR travels to Kansas, Texas, Martinsville and Phoenix to close out the season (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).
