Fox was amazing from the very beginning (2001) until about 2013. With the untimely passing of Steve Byrnes, Dick Bergrenn retiring after 2012, Larry Mac leaving in 2015, Fox has not been able to put the right pieces together. Fox put more effort and energy into their broadcast and it made watching the racing experience an entertaitnment all together. It is such a shame what Fox is to what it used to be.
The 2001 starting grid animation with drivers making goofy faces and amusing music, is the best starting grid presentation I have ever seen and is one of the reasons I started actively following Nascar as a kid. I never understood why they abondoned this concept so soon.
Bringing it back would be an easy way to address complaints that the drivers are too corporate and have bland personalities nowadays. It seems like such a missed opportunity; it lets the drivers be themselves a little in a way I think everyone would be able to appreciate.
@kpegc plus it wasn't just the drivers, their cars were also animated as well! Having them moving instead of just still photos also added that extra bit of flair as well!
FOX in the early 2000's was GOLD with DW, Mike Joy and Larry Mac. Now today Mike Joy is still there, but past his prime, Clint Bowyer the goofy comedian at points, but doesn't provide as much analysis, and a rotating 3rd Commentator (honestly, have Jamie McMurray be the 3rd person in the booth. What FOX needs to do is get Bowyer out the booth and Jamie Mac in the booth full-time, have a better lead Commentator, Stop doing goofy and cringe skits trying to make a big race look like a big Joke, and GET RID OF THE GOD AWFUL CARTOON CHARACTERS!!!!
Boyer is the 1 who tells what is going on a d why. The other 2 are asking him things. I don't even think the critics on these channels even watch the races!
NASCAR on FOX in the early 2000’s was when FOX was at it’s best. You had great personalities in Mike Joy, DW, Larry Mac, and Jeff Hammond. You had great pit reporters in Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda, and Dick Berggren. Miss those days.
Nowadays, we got cringe.... Everything. Mike Joy got stale, DW was fired, LMC got moved to Charlotte, and Clint Bowyer is the Seth Rogen of the crew. Pit reporters aren't any better. Jamie Little can't hold a LIGHTER to Krista Voda no matter how hard she tries, what was Fox thinking? The broadcast has become so unbearable that I went to almost every racetrack on their half of the schedule (provided it's cheap and there's a bus route nearby) just to not watch it
The funny thing now with FOX is I hear them call NASCAR drivers “The greatest drivers in the world,” yet in their hype videos and promotions there are crashes every other second… What a way to make a Motorsport look like a joke
To me, the top NASCAR on Fox moment has to unquestionably the 2003 Darlington spring race, you had a truly great race, there was plenty of lead changes, the now iconic side by side finish with Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven, and to top it all off, Craven beating Kurt Busch to the line by a literal nose. One moment in Fox's tenure with NASCAR I'll likely never forget.
That early run of NASCAR on Fox hit the perfect blend of professional and fun. The races had that relaxing lazy Sunday afternoon vibe, but the races also felt like a big deal.
I personally think that when Darrell Waltrip retired from the booth is when everything started changing for how NASCAR on Fox was like Mike Jeff and Darrell worked well together, not to the degree of Mike Larry and Darrell, but after he retired from broadcasting in 2019 full-time at least I feel like that’s when NASCAR fox started to change
I will always maintain that the 2001-2006 NASCAR TV package (including NBC) is the zenith of motorsport broadcasting. I think the major problem is the change of culture in NASCAR. Before the chase/playoffs, each race was the focus of a given weekend. Matt Kenseth recently observed that back then, points weren't talked about very much (except for after the race). Now, under a system supposedly all about wins, points are talked about constantly. The broadcasts uses to follow what's happening right now. These days, the agenda is following the playoff contenders. Anyone not within reach of making the cut is not talked about unless they spin or crash.
I personally preferred broadcasts from about '88-'97 to anything Fox ever did. Yeah, the production quality may have been lower, but I loved the commentators we had back then. Ken Squire was great at making each race feel like a grand event of its own, not just 1/36th of a championship battle, Bob Jenkins had a perfect balance of being informative and exciting, and Ned Jarrett was always a good calming presence. And before the introduction of tickers, they did a good job of really going "through the field". Starting lineups would mention everybody, and everyone would get talked about at some point in the broadcast. Fox to me was always a bit too goofy, even in their heyday.
IMO, the decline started when Fox rebranded Speed into FS1. The reason I say that is that yes, Fox itself ended coverage in May or June, but these same announcers were seen year around on Speed, which means that the announcers where able to show their personalities without detracting from the racing product, and is why Fox had the chill vibe going on, while still being professional. In addition gave time for people who didn't have a strong knowledge base of the sport a chance to learn, and gave their existing talent a chance to further their relationship with the teams and viewers. Fox is trying to shove the antics/features they used to do on Speed during the race telecast itself, and it detracts from the broadcasts, and it doesn't help that outside of Jamie Little, the people they hired to replace their old guard either have a personality of cardboard, or are told to try way too hard to be goofy.
And that re-brand started when Speed lost the F1 rights to NBC after the 2012 season. Outside of NASCAR & IMSA, SPEED's biggest property was F1 & when that left, it really started SPEED's demise (though there were warning signs leading up to that).
I think some of Darrell Waltrip’s quotes were the best part of it. He was really a good commentator who managed to act like a race fan at the same time.
I remember this classic exchange: John Hannafin: “Well, this is John Hannafin with Kenny Rogers. And now back to you, Bill.” Bill Weber: “Well, that, of course, was not Kenny Rogers.” Benny Parsons: “Not even close!”
You mentioned that around 2012 is the last great period for nascar on fox, around that time, I liked when they had Dierks Bentley do a modified version of “Sideways” for the nascar on fox intro. Great intro to hype up the race. Miss those types of things they would include. Feel like once Fox sports took over Speed channel, that was the beginning of the downfall of nascar coverage on Fox
NBC's coverage ain't exactly all rainbows and unicorns either. My favorite NASCAR on Fox moment would have to be Steve Byrnes' interview with Tony Stewart about Joey Logano at Fontana.
NBC have knowledgeable, experienced personalities, but way too many and a crowded booth, Jeff Burton SHOULD NOT be calling Cup races, especially with how similar he sounds too Dale Jr, I personally believe NBC would be a billion times better if they gave Steve Letarte a similar role to Larry McReynolds' current role with a virtual cutaway car amd gave statistics and strategies, move Rick Allen to a host role, hosting the pre race ahow and post race, move Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett to the booth permanently, and NBC would be awesome.
Dale Jr is there as long as Steve Letarte is there, and NBC knows it. Any change to those 2 and it's ESPN all over again. Maybe bring back Allen Bestwick if available to go alongside those 2, have Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty be the pit reporters, that would be awesome. Also, bring back Fuel for the start and end of the race, it made NBC the "hip" network back in the day
@polycube868 Both Jeff Burton and Rick Allen are terrible, so I'd agree with booting Burton and moving Allen away from the race broadcast to a pre or post-race position
It seems like Fox has turned to NASCAR to promote absolutely everything else they have coverage of during race broadcasts. I never see NASCAR pushed that hard during any of their other events like I have this year with USFL Football. (I see now that Fox Corporation is the owner of the league) On top of that it’s pretty evident they oversell ad spots to increase revenue because they see NASCAR as one big advertisement parade and not a sport.
The problem with fox now is that it all feels phoned in. There’s a lack of chemistry in the booth, the pit reporters are not as engaging, the camera angles got worse, the commercials, and when there’s an incident that happens during a commercial, there’s no cut back to the coverage. Also the front stretch interviews (both networks have this problem). I have no clue how it went downhill so quickly
What made Fox so good, especially the first decade was the personalities. Between Chris and Jeff in the Hollywood Hotel to Mike, DW and Larry in the booth even to the pit reporters. You could tell that all the on air talent had real chemistry and genuinely liked each other. Sadly as the original crew began to retire, it’s just not the same. Don’t get me wrong. Mike Joy is still absolutely fantastic as a play by play, but they just never could get the color right after DW retired. Bowyer has shown some signs that he is getting better. But it just isn’t quite as good as it was in the beginning.
It's funny that you post this as over the last few weeks I've been going back and watching early 2000s Nascar races. What hit me beyond the nostalgic racing was Fox's level of care and authenticity to the sports core. Everything was tailored so well. And Jeff Hammond, Larry Mac, DW, and Mike Joy in the booth were always great. The whole team were consummate professionals.
Fox 2001-2006 Amazing production, great audio, the commentators were top notch, pit reporters gave valuable insight, they made fun gimmicks and skits involving the drivers, the Crank It Ups were the best part of the broadcast, also 90% of the races were on the big network, giving plenty of viewers the chance to watch it Fox 2007-2016 They had a monopoly on the sport, a couple things were changed a bit, but it's still great to watch. However, things started to take a turn after Steve Byrnes died and Chris Myers left for a bit. Also, they were starting to move 2/3 of thr schedule to Speed, which most of us didn't have, and the recession accelerated cable being cut Fox 2017-2021 The broadcast has started to become unbearable, LMC was moved to Charlotte, DW retired, Mike Joy is not immune to age as he's starting to get stale, the pit reporters suck, the Crank it Ups start to become mid, then FS1 came into the picture, and cable is starting to not be worth it anymore, and there was no alternative to watch without it being a hole in your pocket or requiring TV providers to access it, leaving those with only an antenna in the dust. Then Bowyer came along, and it became downright unbearable. I only tolerated him because Jeff Gordon was in there with him keeping the balance Fox 2022-2024(hopefully) I completely lost respect for the Fox half of the season, it became so cringe, dull, and completely out of it, that I started heading to the tracks on their half of the schedule as much as possible. That's how bad it's gotten. Hopefully tbey get screwed out of the new TV deal taking place next year, and another network takes its place. Heck, NBC can do it solo the entire season, and it'll STILL be good than whatever cringe idea Fox has
Not many people remember Mike Joy being in the MRN broadcast for the 1979 Daytona 500. Then he interviewed Darrell Waltrip when he won the Daytona 500 in 1989. Starting in 1998 he became a full time commentator. That's the stepping stones of how broadcasting should be set. People that have decades of knowledge with the sport. People that don't sound overly scripted or cringy. Same can be said with the pit reporters. They had personality, some even joked around with the drivers like Tony Stewart and Dale Jr. You just dont see that anymore. FOX really made NASCAR stand out since NASCAR isn't considered a sport by most fans: the pre shows helped that out. These days it's a joke.
Honestly I think the biggest improvement this year from Fox is Bowyer. Although he had his bad moments this year, he seems to have started to grow into his position as a color commentator, both Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer needs to have that third person who fits them both. I think Adam Alexander can help fit this bill.
@Midsouth Cup Series I actually like Adam Alexander, he has a funny voice but he uses it well, Rick Allen has a smooth voice but isn't as articulated as Adam Alexander is.
Bowyer has gotten better each year as they have reigned him in. I still think he expands to fill quiet moments with his voice. He needs to learn to not talk at every single opportunity and let the broadcast booth breathe.
It isn't just NASCAR that Fox used to be great at covering. I grew up in the days in which F1 was on SPEED from 1998-2012 (with races also on Fox Sports Net & Fox itself during that run). Back then F1 wasn't even considered among the top 5 when it came to racing series in this country & was considered a niche series. However despite this Fox treated F1 with respect & had some of the best people doing their best to cover the sport & educate new/young fans like myself about it. People like Bob Varsha, Sam Posey, David Hobbs, Peter Windsor & Steve Matchett basically turned me into a die hard F1 fan in addition to a NASCAR fan. I think the moment that NASCAR on Fox started to go downhill was when SPEED was turned into FS1. However what many people may not realize is that the catalyst for that whole transition was when F1 left SPEED for NBC and took the majority of the talent (minus Bob Varsha & Peter Windsor) after the 2012 season. When F1 left, it basically opened the door for all of the other series besides NASCAR to leave SPEED. Fox then realized that they needed to do whatever it took to keep NASCAR from leaving which basically resulted in the coverage we see today from them. As for the current coverage of F1 by ESPN, it is absolutely terrible apart from the commercial free aspect because ESPN does not bother to hire its own people or camera crews to go to every race & simply uses the Sky Sports global feed to cover F1 despite the fact they promote the heck out of F1 on SportsCenter.
That's right when I started watching Nascar in 2000. Lived next to Bristol Motorspeedway for college. And man it was just exciting. The sport just felt big. From the devastation of Dale Sr passing...the Harvick stepping in. Was just at a high point as a sport and Fox was driving the ship.
My two favorite goofy DW Moments: #2 "He went like he was shot out of a rocket!" (What?) #1: Bobby Labonte was in the 43 and running a Spiderman paint scheme. I think they were at Talladega. He missed pit road or something and DW said "Spiderman is going to have to keep spidering on around." And I don't know why, but it made us laugh and laugh and laugh.
@ 0:01 alone is the reason why fox was great. That theme and opening was the ultimate hype to get you going. Especially if you were getting ready to watch a race at Daytona or Talladega 😎
I felt your points in this video! NASCAR on Fox was my childhood and I loved every second of it. Mike, Larry Mac & DW were such a special crew together! RIP to the late Steve Byrnes as well.
I hope Fox can get better in the booth with Harvick joining after he retires but the overall broadcast sucks, with commercials galore ruining the race and it makes fans tune out.
Yes, the shear amount of commercials is the big issue with Fox in just about every sport do so many they run into dead air or with error with nothing worse the NBC and NBC can be bad with this dead air too but more for errors in broadcast for NBC where as Fox this is also not just errors but the dead air due to having too many commercials.
FOX didn't get "better" or "worse", it's just that all the people they poached from the pre-2001 era eventually cycled out and the people they replaced them with weren't acclimated with the sport nor really cared to do so. FOX has always been FOX, it's just that for a little while there the adults were still in the room. Once they were gone it became a cartoon show.
Yep. That's why I say the decline started when Fox replaced Speed with FS1. During the Speed era, if Fox had an announcer they wanted to try out, they placed them on practice/qualifying sessions, and on the filler shows between sessions. If they worked out, they moved up the latter into becoming regulars, if they didn't, Fox cut ties, and brought in another announcer. In addition, it gave their existing talent the chance to broaden their knowledge/relationships with drivers and crews.
One of the main reasons FOX sucks now, is because the Director constantly shows you something that gets you interested...and then...takes it away, by switching to a different camera!!!! I curse the director every race. I've been a NASCAR fan since 1988, when Lake Speed won his only race. Favorite moment: Jr winning Daytona in 2001 is one of them for sure!
I remember watching nascar on fox in the 2000s when I was a kid when mike joy Larry mc Darrel waltrip was in the booth and Darrel saying boogity boogity let’s go racing on nascar on fox back in the 2000s was great
What I miss is that whoever was directing NASCAR on FOX back then, I believe it was Mike Goldberg made sure every little detail was covered and there were no questions of who is going to be in the booth this week? Why didn't they show this? Everything worked. I just feel like that cutting edge stuff is not there anymore. They need one driver, one crew chief and a commentator. Back then extra special care was given to the broadcasts. That is what is missing. You shouldn't have to wonder.
@evansilliams6406 . . . It's nice that you recognize the talents in the control booth, that directs the broadcasts, as the ingredient of what makes the broadcast works well. Many times the guys with the mics . . . aka "presenters" either gets too much credit or too much blame on the results of the broadcasts.
@@bloqk16 The older I get the more I notice, everything has to work together from the top to the bottom. If one thing is bad or off, then it hurts everything. I also learned from the pandemic that everything has moving parts and it all operates like a machine. That is why care needs to be taken with everything you do.
I think that things got odd when they tried the whole digger as a character for the new cameras. Still a great concept though. The problem is that the staff out of the booth they are the mistake, they have the bad views with the camera, are not able 1/3 the time to show a replay of the wreak even if they ask for it, and then Fox does too many full on ads for the sport and has gotten bad about this in other sports with ads like Football with blank spots not even for local ads but just plain blank spots in the middle of sports becuse they take too many breaks now. Even when doing Replays/Reruns of other TV shows they will do longer breaks and 1/2 the time mess up cutting out the intro if there was one before the theme that they for good reason like most stations cut 90% out. In fact, it is Fox the channel that has become dated, with even FX/FXX looking like the better choice for general TV stuff that is not sports.
Fox changed the cast, but lost the professional excitement. Tony and Clint are wildcards, DW was amazing. Mike Joy is the absolute anchor of the team. Larry Mac needs more airtime, Americas Crew Chief! Jeff Gordon was pure professional. Benny Parsons was a legend, like Buddy Baker.
It’s almost like Fox was great when NASCAR was great, and they fell off at the same rate. When you start putting races on FS1 less people watch. When less people watch, the sport becomes smaller. When the sport becomes smaller, the people who put on the show feel (rightfully) less important. Imagine going into work and the company you work for keeps getting bigger and bigger. Pay rates go up, people really want to work there and feel lucky to be there. Then imagine going into work and the company you work for keeps deteriorating. Your customer base is maybe a third of what it was. People don’t want that job anymore, it’s a dead end. How in the world do you keep the morale up when the whole world knows that this thing is failing. No matter how much you put into it, there’s just less people who care because the people running the place have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT IN YHE HELL’S GOING ON.
Personally..... In 2023, the one thing on Fox that bothers me the most during their coverage? I wish Mike Joy at least pretended to listen to whoever is in the booth with him. They will make a point, discuss it.. And then 2 minutes later, Joy will repeat the thought as if it's a new observation. (It truly happens multiple times every race)
The one thing I haven’t seen the comments mentioned from this year’s NASCAR on FOX broadcasting this season that I was disappointed with was during the North Wilkesboro All Star race was Darrell Waltrip not saying Boogity Boogity Boogity, let’s go racing boys! I was sad because Mike Joy was talking too much when the race started. Maybe FOX told DW not to say it? Maybe it’s just me with that disappointment? Would anyone else agree with me too? That in my opinion was when I started to realize that NASCAR on FOX was not what it used to be.
Also has anybody noticed the fact that they don’t seem to do crank it up anymore? Their audio was always so good and lately the audio is always kind of off.
I think currently the booth, the reporters, the coverage overall is fine. Not perfect, certainly not at the 2001 - 2012 or so level, but it's fine. The biggest problem is the commercials!! Run 5 laps, commercials. Oops we missed a lead change or a wreck, so lets recap. Okay we're caught up, 5 more laps, and another commercial!! It's maddening!! IndyCar handles that soooooo much better.
My god, I was 13 and I was just becoming aware of some of this. Rush, Van Halen, the Cars, the Police......all those legendary albums. Now we dont get albums and rock bands are a fringe act
I'll never understand why people think the commentators have any pull over the overall production, nor the sheer insanity of thinking that out of all the issues FOX has, that Mike Joy of all people is somehow the issue. He and Larry Mac are the absolute best commentators we still have and going after them in the wake of things like "THE....WHEEL" and other goofy shit. It's like critiquing the wallpaper in a room covered in dirt.
For me, I was always partial to NBC/TNT from 2001-2006 and the TNT 6 race schedule from 2007-2009. Alan Bestwick (2001-2004)/Bill Weber (2004-2009), Benny Parsons (2001-2006)/Kyle Petty (2007-2014) and Wally Dallenbach (2001-2014), but just those years from 2001-2009 were my favorite broadcasts that I always looked forward to, they all seemed relaxed, and they seemed to make almost everything exciting in every race they called, and they had knowledge of the sport with Wally being the most recent driver, so he had more experience with the newer cars than Parsons. And Dallenbach wasn’t afraid to speak his mind on something a driver would do to others (example, Tony Stewart in the 2006 Daytona 500) Benny was real likable, and he had really good knowledge of how to win the big races, having won a lot, and Alan was just the best, his call in the 01 Pepsi 400, or the 02 Homestead Race or the 02 Sharpie 500 are some of his best examples in great commentating, while Bill Weber was already a recognizable person, having been part of ESPN Speedworld as a pit reporter, did have his great calls, the 2005 fall Talladega race where Dale Jarrett won his last Cup Series Race, the 2006 Daytona 500, the 2007 Pepsi 400, etc., while I found DW to be quite annoying, usually he would get very loud and louder as the race went on, he was always biased on Dale Jr., he sounded like he didn’t like Jeff Gordon if he won, I just never liked him as a broadcaster. Although I do remember coming home from Church at about noon and the NASCAR race would start just as I came through the door obviously on FOX.
Pre-2000 was awesome. Great announcers. Great production. It was classy. And you had CBS, TNN, ESPN, ABC, TBS and NBC all promoting the sport. Now, you have 2 networks, and the other networks don't care.
Just ain't the same without DW & Larry Mc. imo. 🤷♂️ DW used to get on my nerves something serious! He could be just too goofy at times, but now I miss him. Sure, Larry Mc's still around, but he needs to be in the booth.
NASCAR on FOX Sports started to become not as good when NASCAR Cup and Xfinity races were on FOX/FS1 after they were done with ESPN and TNT. Honestly I’m not a fan of both FOX and Reboot NASCAR on NBC nowadays (of course NBC is better, but it’s overpraised and they show a lot of commercials too and everyone forgets about it). NASCAR coverages in general aren’t as good as they used to be. Sad to see NASCAR on FOX Sports continue to be bad…
2022 was when FOX Sport’s coverage went downhill. I meant after 2022 was when they went downhill. Reboot Nascar on NBC is alright. Oh and my favorite Nascar on FOX moment was when Darrell Waltrip said “Boogity Boogity Boogity let’s go racing boys” from 2002 to 2019 and my other favorite Nascar on FOX moment was just recently when Kyle Busch won at Gateway International Raceway.
FOX also needs to add back in the sound of the cars to their broadcast. At most points during the race, you're hard-pressed to hear the cars. NBC does this much better. Hard to build excitement and a sense of speed and power when you cannot hear the cars. When I actually made it to the track last summer I had nearly forgotten that the cars are actually loud!
Old School ESPN: Jenkins, Parsons, & Jarrett with Dr Punch in the pits are the reference for all NASCAR TV Announcing. In the 90s they were the standard. 1990s ABC, NBC, TNN, CBS, all had different combos of talent but ESPNs crew was the best.
Facts. The final lap of the Daytona 500 sounded like he was commenting golf. Not to mention how many errors he has made this year (like repeatedly saying Truex finished 2nd to Stewart in 2016 Sonoma when most people know it was Hamlin). I love Mike; he is a legend, but it's like watching Jimmie Johnson's final 3 years at this point. Next year should be his farewell season.
Mike Joy isn't getting any younger and I am even feeling like he needs to step down. His steady hand on everything is slipping and there really isn't any chemistry in the booth and FOX takes chemistry wrecks it with all these guests.
@@caseysmith544 I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't both dissatisfied with the production value and the next gen car even though he has to hype it up as if it's the best thing in NASCAR history.
I think FOX Needs to Have a full reset/Rebuild. Here’s how We accomplish that in My Opinion. Cup Broadcasts Allen Bestwick (lap-by-lap) Kevin Harvick (Driver Analyst) Todd Gordon (Crew Chief/Rules Anyalst) Keep the Pit Reporters the Same Xfinity Broadcasts Adam Alexander Cup Guest analyst Coleman Pressley Truck Broadcasts Alex Hayden (The Lead Guy on MRN): Lap-By-Lap Phil Parsons Matt Crafton (If/When he Retires) I’d Easily Replace most of FOX’s Both with MRN Guys or New Groups and build that Chemistry
You nailed it when talking about D. W. When he was in the car he was my favorite driver and his excitement for the sport really shined when he went to the booth and Larry Mac being the crew chief just after he stepped off the box was a huge grab as well but when He left the booth is when things started going downhill I think they will get some of that back with Harvick going to the booth next year but they need to dump Boyer and bring in another crew chief preferably someone who has just stepped off the box and has worked with this next gen car if they manage to do that then they just might get that magic back
I'm going to be controversial and say that I really don't care about the debate or if FOX sucks or not or if NBC or FOX is better with NASCAR. To me, it is very nitpicky to complain, especially when the most important product is the racing NASCAR itself produces. I enjoy both FOX and NBC's formats and they both have their good points. I enjoy Dale Jr's typical awesome personality on the booth and NBC's pretty cool pit road reporters, and I like Mike Joy's iconic commentary as well as Bowyer being a bit of a clown on the booth. And I am a bit tired of internet users telling me whether what I think is right or wrong regarding the broadcasters. My only complaint with FOX is Jamie Little commentating the Trucks. Jamie Little is a great pit reporter but she's awful as a commentator, no disrespect to her, but I don't like her commentary. She's definitely not made to do real-time commentating. Otherwise, I enjoy the commentating at FOX, and the occasional goofyness of it, Race Hub, and the occasional errors like JJ Yeley being the 2009 F1 World Champion is just hilarious and legendary.
Not gonna lie. I still like nascar on fox. I do hate that the graphics don’t do a great job of just letting the race positions roll and I don’t like Clint but I don’t think it’s as bad as people say. All nascar broadcasters show too many commercials and I find most commentators boring anyway. The both for Fox should be mike joy, Jamie mcmurray, and Larry mac. Both Fox and nbc zoom in too much and don’t cover the whole field enough. Things like stage breaks have ruined a lot of strategy and coverage accordingly. I remember watching green flag pit stops and thinking of how exciting they were. Stage breaks ruin that.
The 2021 season was kinda a return to form that year with clint jeff and Mike they blended together but when jeff left it went down hill from thier agean
The most memorable moment for was “Brad Keselowski won this race” I was 10 years old just got into nascar the year previous & it looked like a movie but it was real
Still one of the greatest call in Nascar let alone in all of sports... "DW have you ever? No ive never" If you dont know what that is you dont know NASCAR
I think part of the problem with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer is the rotating booth. There's no chemistry in the whole booth from week to week. For me the FOX booth should be Joy, Harvick, McMurray, and give McReynolds a bigger role during thr race. I'd rather have McMurray than Bowyer.
2021 with Bowyer and Gordon was better, with Gordon playing the straight man to the wacky Bowyer, and he actually brought Jeff's personality out and brought him out of his shell.
The rotating booth was hit or miss for me. I liked Tony Stewart in the booth, but cringed when Danica was in the booth. Carl Edwards was a breath of fresh air, Kenny Wallace was great, DW was nostalgic, Kurt Busch was smooth, Michael Waltrip, Jamie McMurray and Bobby Labonte not so much.
If we are looking for more and younger viewers a 73 year old play by play announcer doesn't cut it. F1 is a boring race yet the announcers are amazing and so exciting.
1. Watching Mike Joy this season was similar to watching Joe Biden trying to express himself. And his lashing out at "Keyboard Warriors" was pure Biden-like behavior. Age related declination. 2. Whatever was the problem with Vince Welch, Jamie Little is not the solution. 3. Repeatedly bringing in a guest commentator that had to watch his junk getting destroyed and beatdown on the track while on live TV was brutal. 4. The FOX production team missed a lot of crucial action on the track and there were many disconnects from the storytelling going on in the booth versus what was being shown on the screen, as well as one of the booth members (usually Boyer) screaming about someone going around or hitting the wall and the cameras are stuck on a kid eating cotton candy while riding a tricycle or some other unrelated subject and failing to switch immediately to the incident. Several times it took several minutes after one of the infamously long commercial breaks for FOX crew to scrape up some lame video of what happened to cause the caution with the ensuing matinee length barrage of commercials.
As one who began watching in the near end of the gen 5 transition to gen 6 era of NASCAR (2011-13), I really think FOX back then was fun to watch. Nowadays...it needs a lot of work, maybe not to get back to that status but at least to get somewhere near there. The addition of Bowyer w/ Joy and a guest commentator (my personal favorite being Tony Stewart), I do enjoy, honestly. My favorite moment would have to be one of my favorite drivers, Dale Jr. winning the 2014 Daytona 500, that was a night I'll never forget. I think 2014 was the peak NASCAR year for me, that's how I also started to root for Kevin Harvick.
I miss that opening. It was really catchy if you ask me. In my opinion, the golden age of NASCAR on FOX was from 2001 through about 2016. And while it's gone down since then, I don't think it's as bad as many people say it is. And it's mainly because of Mike Joy. He is still the leader of the team, and will continue doing so until he retires from broadcasting. It's like what Kevin Harvick is doing at Stewart Haas Racing right now. Speaking of Harvick, when he joins the Fox booth next year, do any of you think he is going to be as goofy as people like Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip?
I think Harvick will be like Dallenbach Jr. on the NBC/TNT broadcasts, a driver who was very recent and had knowledge of the current car. Harvick will be good.
That intro was the theme of my childhood, honestly it's one off my earliest memories with my late father and I still go back and listen to it. I'm really happy they brought it back instead of the NFL theme.
@@TrashHowitzer Yeah. The NFL theme is good for football, but not for NASCAR. It has to be it's own identity, and I'm glad Fox Sports got that right again. Same thing with MLB.
Mike Joy started out announcing local short track races while still in college in the northeast. He also drove and worked on his own racecars so he knows racing literally from the ground up. Same for Dr. Dick Berggren (PHD psychology) also announced at local short tracks and edited several racing magazines. He also built, maintained and drove his own racecars so he also had an extensive racing background. The other, Steve Byrne, Matt Yokum and others came to TV thru MRN, again an extensive background in racing. Krista Voda was good, but for whatever reason, Fox lost her to MAVTV. I though Jeannie Zelasko was terrible. She had zero racing background and really had no idea what she was doing to the point that one crew chief pranked her a completely bogus answer which she reported that made her look like an idiot. (Not saying I agreed with what was done to her.) My beef with Fox is probably generational. I don't like the over the top hype that Fox promotes in all of their other sports broadcasts. So I'm ready for "OK Boomer!"
People seem to forget how much hate DW got in the booth. It was not at all the rainbows and unicorns presented here. He got every bit of the hate Clint Bowyer has gotten. Frankly, the sport as a whole was 1000X better back then - I don't think Fox "made" it better. Although I liked the Fox coverage back then, the product/racing could carry itself. That is not typically the case these days.
DW never deserved it, so what if he's corny!? He has enthusiasm, and that's better than professionalism, and Mike Joy reigned him in when he got too silly.
What is your favorite NASCAR on FOX moment?
Darlington 2003 easily
Too many to count but here's one that stands out, "Smith gets the flag! And this time he'll get to keep it!"
When they switch to NBC
Talladega 2012
The first time I watched it in 2007.
Fox was amazing from the very beginning (2001) until about 2013. With the untimely passing of Steve Byrnes, Dick Bergrenn retiring after 2012, Larry Mac leaving in 2015, Fox has not been able to put the right pieces together. Fox put more effort and energy into their broadcast and it made watching the racing experience an entertaitnment all together. It is such a shame what Fox is to what it used to be.
The 2001 starting grid animation with drivers making goofy faces and amusing music, is the best starting grid presentation I have ever seen and is one of the reasons I started actively following Nascar as a kid. I never understood why they abondoned this concept so soon.
I thought of this too. My favorite was Kenny Wallace and the monkey dance or whatever it was that he did.
That was probably the most cutting edge thing I had ever seen when that debuted! Heck, it still holds up great today more than 20 years later!
Bringing it back would be an easy way to address complaints that the drivers are too corporate and have bland personalities nowadays.
It seems like such a missed opportunity; it lets the drivers be themselves a little in a way I think everyone would be able to appreciate.
@kpegc plus it wasn't just the drivers, their cars were also animated as well! Having them moving instead of just still photos also added that extra bit of flair as well!
I think FOX has gone downhill ever since Steve Byrnes died
Steve was the very best in his profession.
Ik I wish I was him
@@tatsupazuzu to replace by Steve Neville and Vince welsh
Yep and ever since Mikey got a full time job at Fox and stopped racing.
And now we have ads that go “i NeEd tO tRy iT fIrSt!” Nonstop
FOX in the early 2000's was GOLD with DW, Mike Joy and Larry Mac. Now today Mike Joy is still there, but past his prime, Clint Bowyer the goofy comedian at points, but doesn't provide as much analysis, and a rotating 3rd Commentator (honestly, have Jamie McMurray be the 3rd person in the booth.
What FOX needs to do is get Bowyer out the booth and Jamie Mac in the booth full-time, have a better lead Commentator, Stop doing goofy and cringe skits trying to make a big race look like a big Joke, and GET RID OF THE GOD AWFUL CARTOON CHARACTERS!!!!
At this point, why bother? They're about to get screwed by NBC and the new TV deal, so I say, let them go the way of CBS and TNT/NBCSN
The cartoon characters are absolute 💩
Boyer is the 1 who tells what is going on a d why. The other 2 are asking him things. I don't even think the critics on these channels even watch the races!
NASCAR on FOX in the early 2000’s was when FOX was at it’s best. You had great personalities in Mike Joy, DW, Larry Mac, and Jeff Hammond. You had great pit reporters in Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda, and Dick Berggren. Miss those days.
Nowadays, we got cringe.... Everything. Mike Joy got stale, DW was fired, LMC got moved to Charlotte, and Clint Bowyer is the Seth Rogen of the crew. Pit reporters aren't any better. Jamie Little can't hold a LIGHTER to Krista Voda no matter how hard she tries, what was Fox thinking? The broadcast has become so unbearable that I went to almost every racetrack on their half of the schedule (provided it's cheap and there's a bus route nearby) just to not watch it
Man, i used to have a crush on Krista. Good point beyond that though. They had everyone then
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. DW wasn''t fired. He simply retired.
Jeanne Zalasko you forgot about her as well
@@blaisemichael7872 my crush was Jeanne Zalasko
The funny thing now with FOX is I hear them call NASCAR drivers “The greatest drivers in the world,” yet in their hype videos and promotions there are crashes every other second…
What a way to make a Motorsport look like a joke
To me, the top NASCAR on Fox moment has to unquestionably the 2003 Darlington spring race, you had a truly great race, there was plenty of lead changes, the now iconic side by side finish with Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven, and to top it all off, Craven beating Kurt Busch to the line by a literal nose. One moment in Fox's tenure with NASCAR I'll likely never forget.
i loved the starting grid music that went like bom bom ba neow now ba ba na now na na now
That early run of NASCAR on Fox hit the perfect blend of professional and fun. The races had that relaxing lazy Sunday afternoon vibe, but the races also felt like a big deal.
I personally think that when Darrell Waltrip retired from the booth is when everything started changing for how NASCAR on Fox was like Mike Jeff and Darrell worked well together, not to the degree of Mike Larry and Darrell, but after he retired from broadcasting in 2019 full-time at least I feel like that’s when NASCAR fox started to change
I will always maintain that the 2001-2006 NASCAR TV package (including NBC) is the zenith of motorsport broadcasting.
I think the major problem is the change of culture in NASCAR. Before the chase/playoffs, each race was the focus of a given weekend. Matt Kenseth recently observed that back then, points weren't talked about very much (except for after the race). Now, under a system supposedly all about wins, points are talked about constantly. The broadcasts uses to follow what's happening right now. These days, the agenda is following the playoff contenders. Anyone not within reach of making the cut is not talked about unless they spin or crash.
I personally preferred broadcasts from about '88-'97 to anything Fox ever did. Yeah, the production quality may have been lower, but I loved the commentators we had back then. Ken Squire was great at making each race feel like a grand event of its own, not just 1/36th of a championship battle, Bob Jenkins had a perfect balance of being informative and exciting, and Ned Jarrett was always a good calming presence. And before the introduction of tickers, they did a good job of really going "through the field". Starting lineups would mention everybody, and everyone would get talked about at some point in the broadcast. Fox to me was always a bit too goofy, even in their heyday.
Thank you I agree
Second on that
Right F-ing on!!!
IMO, the decline started when Fox rebranded Speed into FS1.
The reason I say that is that yes, Fox itself ended coverage in May or June, but these same announcers were seen year around on Speed, which means that the announcers where able to show their personalities without detracting from the racing product, and is why Fox had the chill vibe going on, while still being professional.
In addition gave time for people who didn't have a strong knowledge base of the sport a chance to learn, and gave their existing talent a chance to further their relationship with the teams and viewers.
Fox is trying to shove the antics/features they used to do on Speed during the race telecast itself, and it detracts from the broadcasts, and it doesn't help that outside of Jamie Little, the people they hired to replace their old guard either have a personality of cardboard, or are told to try way too hard to be goofy.
And that re-brand started when Speed lost the F1 rights to NBC after the 2012 season. Outside of NASCAR & IMSA, SPEED's biggest property was F1 & when that left, it really started SPEED's demise (though there were warning signs leading up to that).
Also, Jamie Little can't hold a matchstick to Krista Voda when she was around. Idk what Fox was thinking
I think some of Darrell Waltrip’s quotes were the best part of it. He was really a good commentator who managed to act like a race fan at the same time.
I remember this classic exchange:
John Hannafin: “Well, this is John Hannafin with Kenny Rogers. And now back to you, Bill.”
Bill Weber: “Well, that, of course, was not Kenny Rogers.”
Benny Parsons: “Not even close!”
You mentioned that around 2012 is the last great period for nascar on fox, around that time, I liked when they had Dierks Bentley do a modified version of “Sideways” for the nascar on fox intro. Great intro to hype up the race. Miss those types of things they would include. Feel like once Fox sports took over Speed channel, that was the beginning of the downfall of nascar coverage on Fox
NBC's coverage ain't exactly all rainbows and unicorns either. My favorite NASCAR on Fox moment would have to be Steve Byrnes' interview with Tony Stewart about Joey Logano at Fontana.
NBC have knowledgeable, experienced personalities, but way too many and a crowded booth, Jeff Burton SHOULD NOT be calling Cup races, especially with how similar he sounds too Dale Jr, I personally believe NBC would be a billion times better if they gave Steve Letarte a similar role to Larry McReynolds' current role with a virtual cutaway car amd gave statistics and strategies, move Rick Allen to a host role, hosting the pre race ahow and post race, move Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett to the booth permanently, and NBC would be awesome.
Dale Jr is there as long as Steve Letarte is there, and NBC knows it. Any change to those 2 and it's ESPN all over again. Maybe bring back Allen Bestwick if available to go alongside those 2, have Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty be the pit reporters, that would be awesome. Also, bring back Fuel for the start and end of the race, it made NBC the "hip" network back in the day
@polycube868 Both Jeff Burton and Rick Allen are terrible, so I'd agree with booting Burton and moving Allen away from the race broadcast to a pre or post-race position
It seems like Fox has turned to NASCAR to promote absolutely everything else they have coverage of during race broadcasts. I never see NASCAR pushed that hard during any of their other events like I have this year with USFL Football. (I see now that Fox Corporation is the owner of the league)
On top of that it’s pretty evident they oversell ad spots to increase revenue because they see NASCAR as one big advertisement parade and not a sport.
💯
I agree. But Tbf NASCAR isn't really a sport but more of an entertainment product somewhat akin to reality TV.
I mean, stage cautions, driver fights, be glad the track doesn't stop for commercials like NFL do, but they're getting real close
The problem with fox now is that it all feels phoned in. There’s a lack of chemistry in the booth, the pit reporters are not as engaging, the camera angles got worse, the commercials, and when there’s an incident that happens during a commercial, there’s no cut back to the coverage. Also the front stretch interviews (both networks have this problem). I have no clue how it went downhill so quickly
What made Fox so good, especially the first decade was the personalities. Between Chris and Jeff in the Hollywood Hotel to Mike, DW and Larry in the booth even to the pit reporters. You could tell that all the on air talent had real chemistry and genuinely liked each other. Sadly as the original crew began to retire, it’s just not the same. Don’t get me wrong. Mike Joy is still absolutely fantastic as a play by play, but they just never could get the color right after DW retired. Bowyer has shown some signs that he is getting better. But it just isn’t quite as good as it was in the beginning.
It's funny that you post this as over the last few weeks I've been going back and watching early 2000s Nascar races. What hit me beyond the nostalgic racing was Fox's level of care and authenticity to the sports core. Everything was tailored so well. And Jeff Hammond, Larry Mac, DW, and Mike Joy in the booth were always great. The whole team were consummate professionals.
Fox 2001-2006
Amazing production, great audio, the commentators were top notch, pit reporters gave valuable insight, they made fun gimmicks and skits involving the drivers, the Crank It Ups were the best part of the broadcast, also 90% of the races were on the big network, giving plenty of viewers the chance to watch it
Fox 2007-2016
They had a monopoly on the sport, a couple things were changed a bit, but it's still great to watch. However, things started to take a turn after Steve Byrnes died and Chris Myers left for a bit. Also, they were starting to move 2/3 of thr schedule to Speed, which most of us didn't have, and the recession accelerated cable being cut
Fox 2017-2021
The broadcast has started to become unbearable, LMC was moved to Charlotte, DW retired, Mike Joy is not immune to age as he's starting to get stale, the pit reporters suck, the Crank it Ups start to become mid, then FS1 came into the picture, and cable is starting to not be worth it anymore, and there was no alternative to watch without it being a hole in your pocket or requiring TV providers to access it, leaving those with only an antenna in the dust. Then Bowyer came along, and it became downright unbearable. I only tolerated him because Jeff Gordon was in there with him keeping the balance
Fox 2022-2024(hopefully)
I completely lost respect for the Fox half of the season, it became so cringe, dull, and completely out of it, that I started heading to the tracks on their half of the schedule as much as possible. That's how bad it's gotten. Hopefully tbey get screwed out of the new TV deal taking place next year, and another network takes its place. Heck, NBC can do it solo the entire season, and it'll STILL be good than whatever cringe idea Fox has
NBC can’t/won’t do the entire season.
Not many people remember Mike Joy being in the MRN broadcast for the 1979 Daytona 500. Then he interviewed Darrell Waltrip when he won the Daytona 500 in 1989. Starting in 1998 he became a full time commentator. That's the stepping stones of how broadcasting should be set. People that have decades of knowledge with the sport. People that don't sound overly scripted or cringy. Same can be said with the pit reporters. They had personality, some even joked around with the drivers like Tony Stewart and Dale Jr. You just dont see that anymore. FOX really made NASCAR stand out since NASCAR isn't considered a sport by most fans: the pre shows helped that out. These days it's a joke.
I thought I remember him calling some Truck races on CBS along with IRL events as well so not like he didn't know what he was getting into
"They were far and away the best broadcasting NASCAR has ever had"
Bob Jenkins, Dr. Jerry Punch, and ESPN Speedworld would like a WORD.
Bob, Ned, and Benny were the best. And nobody covered the pits (and saved lives) like Jerry Punch.
I miss the intros from 2001. Got me pumped up.
Ahhhh the memories that the intro music brought back....
Why NASCAR in general was great! Late 90s and early 2000s we’re a movie. Great videos man!
Honestly I think the biggest improvement this year from Fox is Bowyer.
Although he had his bad moments this year, he seems to have started to grow into his position as a color commentator, both Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer needs to have that third person who fits them both.
I think Adam Alexander can help fit this bill.
Bowyer is great for the booth. He comes off as a very excited fan.
Adam Alexander is a great commentator and once Mike Joy retires, I think he could fill that role
@Midsouth Cup Series I actually like Adam Alexander, he has a funny voice but he uses it well, Rick Allen has a smooth voice but isn't as articulated as Adam Alexander is.
Harvick is coming to the booth next year though.
Bowyer has gotten better each year as they have reigned him in. I still think he expands to fill quiet moments with his voice. He needs to learn to not talk at every single opportunity and let the broadcast booth breathe.
I miss the old CBS sports days compared to the Fox Sports coverage
It isn't just NASCAR that Fox used to be great at covering. I grew up in the days in which F1 was on SPEED from 1998-2012 (with races also on Fox Sports Net & Fox itself during that run). Back then F1 wasn't even considered among the top 5 when it came to racing series in this country & was considered a niche series. However despite this Fox treated F1 with respect & had some of the best people doing their best to cover the sport & educate new/young fans like myself about it. People like Bob Varsha, Sam Posey, David Hobbs, Peter Windsor & Steve Matchett basically turned me into a die hard F1 fan in addition to a NASCAR fan. I think the moment that NASCAR on Fox started to go downhill was when SPEED was turned into FS1. However what many people may not realize is that the catalyst for that whole transition was when F1 left SPEED for NBC and took the majority of the talent (minus Bob Varsha & Peter Windsor) after the 2012 season. When F1 left, it basically opened the door for all of the other series besides NASCAR to leave SPEED. Fox then realized that they needed to do whatever it took to keep NASCAR from leaving which basically resulted in the coverage we see today from them. As for the current coverage of F1 by ESPN, it is absolutely terrible apart from the commercial free aspect because ESPN does not bother to hire its own people or camera crews to go to every race & simply uses the Sky Sports global feed to cover F1 despite the fact they promote the heck out of F1 on SportsCenter.
This is random and great video btw... but that Kasey Khane paint scheme @ 7:58 is one of my favorites of all time
Mike Larry and Darrell made perfect chemistry
That's right when I started watching Nascar in 2000. Lived next to Bristol Motorspeedway for college. And man it was just exciting. The sport just felt big. From the devastation of Dale Sr passing...the Harvick stepping in. Was just at a high point as a sport and Fox was driving the ship.
Yep.
That music at the beginning hit so good when it was Daytona week after the unending off-season when I was a kid ah....good times.
My two favorite goofy DW Moments: #2 "He went like he was shot out of a rocket!" (What?) #1: Bobby Labonte was in the 43 and running a Spiderman paint scheme. I think they were at Talladega. He missed pit road or something and DW said "Spiderman is going to have to keep spidering on around." And I don't know why, but it made us laugh and laugh and laugh.
Man Ngl being a kid during this era was awesome. You don't know it was the good times until those good times are over.
@ 0:01 alone is the reason why fox was great. That theme and opening was the ultimate hype to get you going. Especially if you were getting ready to watch a race at Daytona or Talladega 😎
A shame they didn't bring back the original soundtrack...
I blame the death of Steve Byrnes, retirement of Dick Berggren, and the Curse of Digger being the downfall of Fox.
I felt your points in this video! NASCAR on Fox was my childhood and I loved every second of it. Mike, Larry Mac & DW were such a special crew together! RIP to the late Steve Byrnes as well.
I hope Fox can get better in the booth with Harvick joining after he retires but the overall broadcast sucks, with commercials galore ruining the race and it makes fans tune out.
Yes, the shear amount of commercials is the big issue with Fox in just about every sport do so many they run into dead air or with error with nothing worse the NBC and NBC can be bad with this dead air too but more for errors in broadcast for NBC where as Fox this is also not just errors but the dead air due to having too many commercials.
FOX didn't get "better" or "worse", it's just that all the people they poached from the pre-2001 era eventually cycled out and the people they replaced them with weren't acclimated with the sport nor really cared to do so. FOX has always been FOX, it's just that for a little while there the adults were still in the room. Once they were gone it became a cartoon show.
Yep.
That's why I say the decline started when Fox replaced Speed with FS1.
During the Speed era, if Fox had an announcer they wanted to try out, they placed them on practice/qualifying sessions, and on the filler shows between sessions. If they worked out, they moved up the latter into becoming regulars, if they didn't, Fox cut ties, and brought in another announcer.
In addition, it gave their existing talent the chance to broaden their knowledge/relationships with drivers and crews.
Mike Joy knows cars.
When Dick Bergren was a pit road reporter and Mike Joy along with Larry Mac and DW just had fun in the booth
Those were good times.
One of the main reasons FOX sucks now, is because the Director constantly shows you something that gets you interested...and then...takes it away, by switching to a different camera!!!! I curse the director every race. I've been a NASCAR fan since 1988, when Lake Speed won his only race. Favorite moment: Jr winning Daytona in 2001 is one of them for sure!
That intro took me back.... Wow.
I remember watching nascar on fox in the 2000s when I was a kid when mike joy Larry mc Darrel waltrip was in the booth and Darrel saying boogity boogity let’s go racing on nascar on fox back in the 2000s was great
They didn't let him Boogity in North Wilkesboro...
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. That was a real shame.
What I miss is that whoever was directing NASCAR on FOX back then, I believe it was Mike Goldberg made sure every little detail was covered and there were no questions of who is going to be in the booth this week? Why didn't they show this? Everything worked. I just feel like that cutting edge stuff is not there anymore. They need one driver, one crew chief and a commentator. Back then extra special care was given to the broadcasts. That is what is missing. You shouldn't have to wonder.
Mike Goldberg failed to be actually be a main commentator for NFL on Fox games which is why he's not recognized because he failed so badly.
@evansilliams6406 . . . It's nice that you recognize the talents in the control booth, that directs the broadcasts, as the ingredient of what makes the broadcast works well.
Many times the guys with the mics . . . aka "presenters" either gets too much credit or too much blame on the results of the broadcasts.
Bringing Goldberg over from ESPN really gave Fox a great start.
@@bloqk16 The older I get the more I notice, everything has to work together from the top to the bottom. If one thing is bad or off, then it hurts everything. I also learned from the pandemic that everything has moving parts and it all operates like a machine. That is why care needs to be taken with everything you do.
Ice w the damn grid lineup in the back what about that they don’t even care about the starting grid anymore
I think that things got odd when they tried the whole digger as a character for the new cameras. Still a great concept though. The problem is that the staff out of the booth they are the mistake, they have the bad views with the camera, are not able 1/3 the time to show a replay of the wreak even if they ask for it, and then Fox does too many full on ads for the sport and has gotten bad about this in other sports with ads like Football with blank spots not even for local ads but just plain blank spots in the middle of sports becuse they take too many breaks now. Even when doing Replays/Reruns of other TV shows they will do longer breaks and 1/2 the time mess up cutting out the intro if there was one before the theme that they for good reason like most stations cut 90% out. In fact, it is Fox the channel that has become dated, with even FX/FXX looking like the better choice for general TV stuff that is not sports.
Serious nostalgia with that intro 😢
Fox changed the cast, but lost the professional excitement. Tony and Clint are wildcards, DW was amazing. Mike Joy is the absolute anchor of the team. Larry Mac needs more airtime, Americas Crew Chief! Jeff Gordon was pure professional. Benny Parsons was a legend, like Buddy Baker.
One name,
Two words:
Darrel Waltrip
It’s almost like Fox was great when NASCAR was great, and they fell off at the same rate. When you start putting races on FS1 less people watch. When less people watch, the sport becomes smaller. When the sport becomes smaller, the people who put on the show feel (rightfully) less important. Imagine going into work and the company you work for keeps getting bigger and bigger. Pay rates go up, people really want to work there and feel lucky to be there. Then imagine going into work and the company you work for keeps deteriorating. Your customer base is maybe a third of what it was. People don’t want that job anymore, it’s a dead end. How in the world do you keep the morale up when the whole world knows that this thing is failing. No matter how much you put into it, there’s just less people who care because the people running the place have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT IN YHE HELL’S GOING ON.
Personally.....
In 2023, the one thing on Fox that bothers me the most during their coverage?
I wish Mike Joy at least pretended to listen to whoever is in the booth with him.
They will make a point, discuss it..
And then 2 minutes later, Joy will repeat the thought as if it's a new observation.
(It truly happens multiple times every race)
The one thing I haven’t seen the comments mentioned from this year’s NASCAR on FOX broadcasting this season that I was disappointed with was during the North Wilkesboro All Star race was Darrell Waltrip not saying Boogity Boogity Boogity, let’s go racing boys! I was sad because Mike Joy was talking too much when the race started. Maybe FOX told DW not to say it? Maybe it’s just me with that disappointment? Would anyone else agree with me too? That in my opinion was when I started to realize that NASCAR on FOX was not what it used to be.
Also has anybody noticed the fact that they don’t seem to do crank it up anymore? Their audio was always so good and lately the audio is always kind of off.
Off topic but not, but Krista Voda not being in NASCAR now is a crime
I think currently the booth, the reporters, the coverage overall is fine. Not perfect, certainly not at the 2001 - 2012 or so level, but it's fine.
The biggest problem is the commercials!! Run 5 laps, commercials. Oops we missed a lead change or a wreck, so lets recap. Okay we're caught up, 5 more laps, and another commercial!! It's maddening!!
IndyCar handles that soooooo much better.
shed a tear to that intro. F
My god, I was 13 and I was just becoming aware of some of this. Rush, Van Halen, the Cars, the Police......all those legendary albums. Now we dont get albums and rock bands are a fringe act
I'll never understand why people think the commentators have any pull over the overall production, nor the sheer insanity of thinking that out of all the issues FOX has, that Mike Joy of all people is somehow the issue. He and Larry Mac are the absolute best commentators we still have and going after them in the wake of things like "THE....WHEEL" and other goofy shit. It's like critiquing the wallpaper in a room covered in dirt.
For me, I was always partial to NBC/TNT from 2001-2006 and the TNT 6 race schedule from 2007-2009. Alan Bestwick (2001-2004)/Bill Weber (2004-2009), Benny Parsons (2001-2006)/Kyle Petty (2007-2014) and Wally Dallenbach (2001-2014), but just those years from 2001-2009 were my favorite broadcasts that I always looked forward to, they all seemed relaxed, and they seemed to make almost everything exciting in every race they called, and they had knowledge of the sport with Wally being the most recent driver, so he had more experience with the newer cars than Parsons. And Dallenbach wasn’t afraid to speak his mind on something a driver would do to others (example, Tony Stewart in the 2006 Daytona 500) Benny was real likable, and he had really good knowledge of how to win the big races, having won a lot, and Alan was just the best, his call in the 01 Pepsi 400, or the 02 Homestead Race or the 02 Sharpie 500 are some of his best examples in great commentating, while Bill Weber was already a recognizable person, having been part of ESPN Speedworld as a pit reporter, did have his great calls, the 2005 fall Talladega race where Dale Jarrett won his last Cup Series Race, the 2006 Daytona 500, the 2007 Pepsi 400, etc., while I found DW to be quite annoying, usually he would get very loud and louder as the race went on, he was always biased on Dale Jr., he sounded like he didn’t like Jeff Gordon if he won, I just never liked him as a broadcaster. Although I do remember coming home from Church at about noon and the NASCAR race would start just as I came through the door obviously on FOX.
Pre-2000 was awesome. Great announcers. Great production. It was classy. And you had CBS, TNN, ESPN, ABC, TBS and NBC all promoting the sport. Now, you have 2 networks, and the other networks don't care.
That intro was awesome.😇
I think my favorite was probably Dega spring 09, “oh he turned him!” And All-star race 2009-2010 “keep your foot in it” and “HE PUT HIM IN THE WALL!”
"Have you ever?"
"No I have never."
That's it right there.
Just ain't the same without DW & Larry Mc. imo. 🤷♂️ DW used to get on my nerves something serious! He could be just too goofy at times, but now I miss him. Sure, Larry Mc's still around, but he needs to be in the booth.
I feel like Larry Mac getting kicked out of the booth was the end of the golden era of NASCAR on FOX.
NASCAR on FOX Sports started to become not as good when NASCAR Cup and Xfinity races were on FOX/FS1 after they were done with ESPN and TNT.
Honestly I’m not a fan of both FOX and Reboot NASCAR on NBC nowadays (of course NBC is better, but it’s overpraised and they show a lot of commercials too and everyone forgets about it). NASCAR coverages in general aren’t as good as they used to be.
Sad to see NASCAR on FOX Sports continue to be bad…
@@johnhaas2523 who said I have an issue with their production?
2022 was when FOX Sport’s coverage went downhill. I meant after 2022 was when they went downhill. Reboot Nascar on NBC is alright. Oh and my favorite Nascar on FOX moment was when Darrell Waltrip said “Boogity Boogity Boogity let’s go racing boys” from 2002 to 2019 and my other favorite Nascar on FOX moment was just recently when Kyle Busch won at Gateway International Raceway.
“Ya picked a find time to leave me loose wheel”
FOX also needs to add back in the sound of the cars to their broadcast. At most points during the race, you're hard-pressed to hear the cars. NBC does this much better. Hard to build excitement and a sense of speed and power when you cannot hear the cars. When I actually made it to the track last summer I had nearly forgotten that the cars are actually loud!
I can hear the cars just fine on Fox broadcast though. Turn the volume up higher.
They're mixed much lower than the booth, you can tell the difference when you listen to an old broadcast or to NBC
Old School ESPN: Jenkins, Parsons, & Jarrett with Dr Punch in the pits are the reference for all NASCAR TV Announcing. In the 90s they were the standard. 1990s ABC, NBC, TNN, CBS, all had different combos of talent but ESPNs crew was the best.
MTJ won the first race and the last race of the FOX 2023 Season
2000-05 was a time to be alive watching nascar
Mike Joy has no enthusiasm anymore. It sounds like he doesn’t want to be there anymore
He honestly should retire his legacy shouldnt be known as a aging commentator who has no enthusiasm
Facts. The final lap of the Daytona 500 sounded like he was commenting golf. Not to mention how many errors he has made this year (like repeatedly saying Truex finished 2nd to Stewart in 2016 Sonoma when most people know it was Hamlin). I love Mike; he is a legend, but it's like watching Jimmie Johnson's final 3 years at this point. Next year should be his farewell season.
It seems to me more like he is disappointed in how bad the broadcast has become on Fox.
Mike Joy isn't getting any younger and I am even feeling like he needs to step down. His steady hand on everything is slipping and there really isn't any chemistry in the booth and FOX takes chemistry wrecks it with all these guests.
@@caseysmith544 I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't both dissatisfied with the production value and the next gen car even though he has to hype it up as if it's the best thing in NASCAR history.
I think FOX Needs to Have a full reset/Rebuild. Here’s how We accomplish that in My Opinion.
Cup Broadcasts
Allen Bestwick (lap-by-lap)
Kevin Harvick (Driver Analyst)
Todd Gordon (Crew Chief/Rules Anyalst)
Keep the Pit Reporters the Same
Xfinity Broadcasts
Adam Alexander
Cup Guest analyst
Coleman Pressley
Truck Broadcasts
Alex Hayden (The Lead Guy on MRN): Lap-By-Lap
Phil Parsons
Matt Crafton (If/When he Retires)
I’d Easily Replace most of FOX’s Both with MRN Guys or New Groups and build that Chemistry
Maybe Fox should hire Ralph Shaheen to do Truck races.
When NASCAR became a gimmick starting in 2014 that’s when the downfall of Fox began
You nailed it when talking about D. W. When he was in the car he was my favorite driver and his excitement for the sport really shined when he went to the booth and Larry Mac being the crew chief just after he stepped off the box was a huge grab as well but when He left the booth is when things started going downhill I think they will get some of that back with Harvick going to the booth next year but they need to dump Boyer and bring in another crew chief preferably someone who has just stepped off the box and has worked with this next gen car if they manage to do that then they just might get that magic back
It all started by them getting rid of larry mac
I'm going to be controversial and say that I really don't care about the debate or if FOX sucks or not or if NBC or FOX is better with NASCAR.
To me, it is very nitpicky to complain, especially when the most important product is the racing NASCAR itself produces. I enjoy both FOX and NBC's formats and they both have their good points.
I enjoy Dale Jr's typical awesome personality on the booth and NBC's pretty cool pit road reporters, and I like Mike Joy's iconic commentary as well as Bowyer being a bit of a clown on the booth. And I am a bit tired of internet users telling me whether what I think is right or wrong regarding the broadcasters.
My only complaint with FOX is Jamie Little commentating the Trucks. Jamie Little is a great pit reporter but she's awful as a commentator, no disrespect to her, but I don't like her commentary. She's definitely not made to do real-time commentating. Otherwise, I enjoy the commentating at FOX, and the occasional goofyness of it, Race Hub, and the occasional errors like JJ Yeley being the 2009 F1 World Champion is just hilarious and legendary.
Not gonna lie. I still like nascar on fox. I do hate that the graphics don’t do a great job of just letting the race positions roll and I don’t like Clint but I don’t think it’s as bad as people say. All nascar broadcasters show too many commercials and I find most commentators boring anyway. The both for Fox should be mike joy, Jamie mcmurray, and Larry mac.
Both Fox and nbc zoom in too much and don’t cover the whole field enough. Things like stage breaks have ruined a lot of strategy and coverage accordingly. I remember watching green flag pit stops and thinking of how exciting they were. Stage breaks ruin that.
Cravens win at Darlington or the 05 Coke 600. But all these points hit home with me and made me the racing fan I am today.
Replays are a big problem for FOX
Best NASCAR on Fox moment had to be when Harvick won at Atlanta in 01
Harvick by inches! Harvick by inches!
I believe that NASCAR on FOX went on a downfall when SPEED Channel died on August 17, 2013 imo.
The 2021 season was kinda a return to form that year with clint jeff and Mike they blended together but when jeff left it went down hill from thier agean
Harvick becoming a broadcaster next year might improve fox, maybe
We'll see.
The booth is better but for the most part not the rest. Especially on the camera angles side of things.
The most memorable moment for was “Brad Keselowski won this race” I was 10 years old just got into nascar the year previous & it looked like a movie but it was real
Probably 2003 Darlington was the best I’ve seen on Fox
Still one of the greatest call in Nascar let alone in all of sports... "DW have you ever? No ive never" If you dont know what that is you dont know NASCAR
By this point I go with what DW said after Harvick edged out Martin and Bowyer was on his roof and on fire: "Eh, a couple of times"
I am biased but my favourite Fox moment was 2008’s Toyota drag race at Daytona! Go Newman!
Hello Newman.
I think part of the problem with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer is the rotating booth. There's no chemistry in the whole booth from week to week. For me the FOX booth should be Joy, Harvick, McMurray, and give McReynolds a bigger role during thr race. I'd rather have McMurray than Bowyer.
2021 with Bowyer and Gordon was better, with Gordon playing the straight man to the wacky Bowyer, and he actually brought Jeff's personality out and brought him out of his shell.
The rotating booth was hit or miss for me. I liked Tony Stewart in the booth, but cringed when Danica was in the booth. Carl Edwards was a breath of fresh air, Kenny Wallace was great, DW was nostalgic, Kurt Busch was smooth, Michael Waltrip, Jamie McMurray and Bobby Labonte not so much.
@@PaperBanjo64 I'm actually going to agree with you here.
It really fell off a cliff when we lost Steve Byrnes. I think he had a lot more to do with the production than just being a pit reporter.
If we are looking for more and younger viewers a 73 year old play by play announcer doesn't cut it. F1 is a boring race yet the announcers are amazing and so exciting.
1. Watching Mike Joy this season was similar to watching Joe Biden trying to express himself. And his lashing out at "Keyboard Warriors" was pure Biden-like behavior. Age related declination.
2. Whatever was the problem with Vince Welch, Jamie Little is not the solution.
3. Repeatedly bringing in a guest commentator that had to watch his junk getting destroyed and beatdown on the track while on live TV was brutal.
4. The FOX production team missed a lot of crucial action on the track and there were many disconnects from the storytelling going on in the booth versus what was being shown on the screen, as well as one of the booth members (usually Boyer) screaming about someone going around or hitting the wall and the cameras are stuck on a kid eating cotton candy while riding a tricycle or some other unrelated subject and failing to switch immediately to the incident. Several times it took several minutes after one of the infamously long commercial breaks for FOX crew to scrape up some lame video of what happened to cause the caution with the ensuing matinee length barrage of commercials.
I think the first post is invalid...Biden would probably call them typewriter warriors 😂
@@PaperBanjo64 I like the way you think.
2003...Have you ever !!!...No i never!!!!
As one who began watching in the near end of the gen 5 transition to gen 6 era of NASCAR (2011-13), I really think FOX back then was fun to watch. Nowadays...it needs a lot of work, maybe not to get back to that status but at least to get somewhere near there. The addition of Bowyer w/ Joy and a guest commentator (my personal favorite being Tony Stewart), I do enjoy, honestly.
My favorite moment would have to be one of my favorite drivers, Dale Jr. winning the 2014 Daytona 500, that was a night I'll never forget. I think 2014 was the peak NASCAR year for me, that's how I also started to root for Kevin Harvick.
IMO, up to 2016 the broadcast was good. Once 2017 hit, it became hit or miss, and by the NexGen era, it hit the fan
I miss that opening. It was really catchy if you ask me. In my opinion, the golden age of NASCAR on FOX was from 2001 through about 2016. And while it's gone down since then, I don't think it's as bad as many people say it is. And it's mainly because of Mike Joy. He is still the leader of the team, and will continue doing so until he retires from broadcasting. It's like what Kevin Harvick is doing at Stewart Haas Racing right now. Speaking of Harvick, when he joins the Fox booth next year, do any of you think he is going to be as goofy as people like Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip?
I think Harvick will be like Dallenbach Jr. on the NBC/TNT broadcasts, a driver who was very recent and had knowledge of the current car. Harvick will be good.
@@justinturley7071 I can see your point.
That intro was the theme of my childhood, honestly it's one off my earliest memories with my late father and I still go back and listen to it. I'm really happy they brought it back instead of the NFL theme.
@@TrashHowitzer Yeah. The NFL theme is good for football, but not for NASCAR. It has to be it's own identity, and I'm glad Fox Sports got that right again. Same thing with MLB.
Mike Joy started out announcing local short track races while still in college in the northeast. He also drove and worked on his own racecars so he knows racing literally from the ground up. Same for Dr. Dick Berggren (PHD psychology) also announced at local short tracks and edited several racing magazines. He also built, maintained and drove his own racecars so he also had an extensive racing background.
The other, Steve Byrne, Matt Yokum and others came to TV thru MRN, again an extensive background in racing. Krista Voda was good, but for whatever reason, Fox lost her to MAVTV. I though Jeannie Zelasko was terrible. She had zero racing background and really had no idea what she was doing to the point that one crew chief pranked her a completely bogus answer which she reported that made her look like an idiot. (Not saying I agreed with what was done to her.)
My beef with Fox is probably generational. I don't like the over the top hype that Fox promotes in all of their other sports broadcasts. So I'm ready for "OK Boomer!"
People seem to forget how much hate DW got in the booth. It was not at all the rainbows and unicorns presented here. He got every bit of the hate Clint Bowyer has gotten.
Frankly, the sport as a whole was 1000X better back then - I don't think Fox "made" it better. Although I liked the Fox coverage back then, the product/racing could carry itself. That is not typically the case these days.
DW never deserved it, so what if he's corny!? He has enthusiasm, and that's better than professionalism, and Mike Joy reigned him in when he got too silly.
@@PaperBanjo64 DW had some cringe moments especially when trying to be funny with different a Boogity call adding Danica to it.
Even back in the day, plenty of us felt that DW was too over the top. I personally never cared for "boogity boogity boogity".
@@johnhaas2523 Agreed on that, I could tolerate DW, but Mikey I can't stand.