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The former driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet is heading back to the FOX Sports booth. Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon will join Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer once again for a NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Joy and Bowyer made the announcement during the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 13. They — along with guest analyst Danica Patrick — showed a highlight from a 2012 fight featuring Bowyer and Gordon before confirming that the former FOX Sports analyst will make his return.
The race at the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway will be Gordon’s first in the booth since the middle of the 2021 Cup Series season. He joined Bowyer and Joy for the race at Sonoma Raceway, which Kyle Larson won after leading 57 laps.
This race was the final of the season for FOX Sports, and it kicked off a two-week break for the Olympics. Once NASCAR returned to action, NBC Sports took over at Nashville Superspeedway while Gordon prepared for his full-time role at Hendrick Motorsports.
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Bowyer & Gordon Enjoyed 1 Season Together
The race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will not be the first time that the two Cup Series drivers work together as analysts while Joy calls the action. They spent one full season together — 2021 — after Bowyer retired from full-time racing.
While the 2020 booth had only two men in the booth, FOX Sports expanded for 2021. Bowyer left the No. 14 Ford Mustang behind and moved forward with a suit on and a microphone in his hand.
The first season featuring the return of the three-man booth had a lot of interesting moments. Bowyer and Gordon wrecked a pair of rental cars while testing out the Daytona Road Course, and they filmed numerous other skits for the FOX Sports pre-race show.
The duo will have another opportunity to reunite on March 20 when the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway. They will provide analysis as the drivers take on the wildly different venue while Joy keeps everything moving forward.
The 4x Champion Made the Move to FOX After Retiring
Gordon, who won four championships with Hendrick Motorsports, made a major move after announcing that he would retire from full-time Cup Series racing. He walked away from the No. 24 Chevrolet after the 2015 season and headed to the booth.
ESPN reported the news on May 21, 2015, that Gordon had signed a multi-year deal with FOX Sports. He replaced Larry McReynolds, who moved over to an in-race analyst role, and joined Joy and Darrell Waltrip as part of the three-man booth.
Gordon remained in this role through the end of the 2019 season when Waltrip announced that he would exit the booth. Instead of searching for a replacement, FOX Sports opted to move to a two-man booth for the 2020 season while putting more responsibilities on Gordon’s shoulders.
FOX Sports went back to a three-man booth in 2021, and it has continued with this format ever since. Though the 2022 season has featured a rotating third chair with Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, Gordon, and multiple other guests yet to be announced.
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