Jeff Gordon to join Fox Sports as full-time NASCAR analyst

Since announcing in January he was stepping away from full-time competition at the end of the current season, Jeff Gordon has repeatedly said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do next.

Well, Gordon has made his mind up. The four-time Cup Series champion will become an analyst for Fox Sports beginning next season in what network executives say is a multi-year deal.

Gordon will join anchor Mike Joy and analyst Darrell Waltrip in broadcasting the 16-race Fox portion of the NASCAR schedule, which starts with the season-opening Daytona 500 in February and concludes at the end of June.

“NASCAR has provided me so many incredible memories, experiences and opportunities throughout my 23 years as a driver, and I can’t wait to start a new chapter in racing with this new relationship with Fox and to be in the booth with Mike and Darrell,” Gordon said. “I feel so lucky to be a part of a sport that I’m very passionate about, and now I get the opportunity to share that passion to millions of race fans from a whole new perspective.”

Larry McReynolds, who had worked as an analyst alongside Joy and Waltrip since Fox began NASCAR races in 2001, will move to an in-studio role.

Transitioning to television is a natural progression for a driver who’s played a pivotal role in expanding NASCAR’s popularity nationally. Gordon’s success throughout the 1990s spurred the sport to unprecedented heights, including record-breaking television ratings and a track building boom in markets such as Southern California, Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Miami.

Gordon is the only driver to have hosted “Saturday Night Live,” doing so in 2001. He has also guest co-hosted “Live! With Regis and Kelly” more than 10 times in addition to numerous appearances on national talk shows. Fox Sports President Eric Shanks called Gordon “an icon of a racing generation.”

“We are thrilled he has chosen to become a part of the Fox Sports family and pair his experience with Darrell,” Shanks said. “Each is credited with helping elevate NASCAR to the popularity it attained in his respective era, and alongside Mike Joy, this duo will treat fans to unmatched insights each and every week.”