TJS_08-15_ONLINEDITION

NASCAR NEWS
LARRY MCREYNOLDS BIDS
FAREWELL TO BOOTHMATES
The end of the FOX NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series race broadcast season in July was also
the end of an era for one of the longest-running
broadcast teams in sports television history.
Larry McReynolds bid farewell to the booth
and his mates, race announcer Mike Joy and
fellow analyst Darrell Waltrip, following the
Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
“I have to say I feel like the most blessed
man on earth to stand beside you guys for 15
years,” McReynolds said after FOX Sports 1
signed off with its 16th and final race of 2015.
In June, FOX announced that four-time
champion Jeff Gordon would join Joy and
Waltrip in the booth in 2016, replacing
McReynolds.
“Love you, brother,” Waltrip said as
McReynolds embraced him and Joy.
On a “FOX Sports Live” post-race report,
Joy said he still planned to work with
McReynolds next season.
“We’re going to add Jeff Gordon to the
booth,” Joy said. “I’m going to keep Larry
real close for all his race strategy beginning
in 2016.”
McReynolds recently told SiriusXM NAS-
CAR Radio that the race and the transition
52 TJS 2015
ahead would be difficult for him.
“I’m looking forward to my next role whenever
we kind of get our arms around what
that’s going to be with FOX, but it’s probably
going to be very tough the next three days,”
McReynolds said. “But especially when that
producer comes in our ear on Sunday and
says, ‘The booth is clear.’ “
The two-time winner of the Daytona 500 as
a crew chief will continue to serve as an analyst
on FOX Sports 1’s weekday “NASCAR
Race Hub” program as well as its “NASCAR
RaceDay” and “NASCAR Victory Lane”
shows for the rest of the season.
DRIVERS CHOOSE THEIR FOUR
NASCAR ‘MAJORS’
The PGA’s prestigious U.S. Open recently
took place at Chambers Bay Golf Course in
University Place, Washington. Regarded as one
of professional golf’s most important events,
the U.S. Open accompanies the PGA Championship,
the British Open and the Masters
Tournament as the four Majors of the sport.
So, what are the four NASCAR Majors
-- the top four races in NASCAR? We polled
several top drivers from Dale Earnhardt Jr.
to Jeff Gordon to Erik Jones to find out just
what races they consider top-notch. And
while some of their answers were expected,
others were a bit more surprising.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “The Daytona 500,
the 600 at Charlotte, the 400 at Indy. That
fourth event, I think you could plug in pretty
much any other race. A short track at Bristol,