Mike Joy
Joy at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019
Born
Michael Kinsey Joy

(1949-11-25) November 25, 1949
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationTV sports announcer
Years active1970–present
Known forCommentator on Fox Sports for NASCAR events and Barrett-Jackson collector car auctions
SpouseGaye Joy
Children2
Sports commentary career
Genre(s)Play-by-play
SportsNASCAR
EmployerCBS (1983–2000)
FOX (1998–present)

Michael Kinsey Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer, businessman, and former politician who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analysts are Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. Counting 2023, Joy has been part of the live broadcast of 44 Daytona 500s (7 for the Motor Racing Network, 17 for CBS and 20 for FOX). He also serves as expert analyst for A&E Networks History Channel and FYI live TV coverage of collector car auctions.

Biography

Early life and career

Joy was born November 25, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois to M. Verne Joy and Jean Peters Joy, the oldest of their four children. He was raised in Windsor, Connecticut, and graduated from West Hartford, Connecticut's Conard High School. His career began as a public address announcer at Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass. in 1970 while attending the University of Hartford and later Emerson College.

He added Thompson Speedway in 1972 and in 1975 began working at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut, joining Jack Arute Jr., the son of the track owner, establishing the track as a hotbed for announcers. Announcing five nights per week, he was noticed by Motor Racing Network (MRN) co-founder Ken Squier.[1] MRN hired him as a freelancer in 1975, then full-time in late 1978, working weekdays in marketing for Daytona International Speedway.[1] He rose to co-anchor, general manager and executive producer of MRN in January 1980. In 1981, he was the lead broadcaster for ESPN's first live NASCAR telecast in that November's Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta International Raceway.[1][2]

CBS Sports and The Nashville Network (1983–2000)

In June 1983, Joy became a pit reporter for CBS' coverage, working with Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett.[1] Since CBS didn't broadcast many races, he also continued to broadcast for MRN radio.[1]

Joy also launched The Nashville Network's NASCAR coverage in 1991, as lap-by-lap announcer,[1] continuing through 1995, and also participated in live NASCAR coverage on TBS. When NASCAR went to Indy, Joy anchored the IMS Radio Network live coverage from the first Brickyard 400 in 1994 through 1998.

Joy was one of the first announcers to embrace the Internet. In 1997, he encouraged Usenet and Jayski readers to e-mail TV coverage suggestions that he could present in a CBS seminar. A member of many Usenet newsgroups, he read them for preparation for broadcasts.

In 1998, after 15 years on pit road, CBS Sports made Joy their lap-by-lap announcer with Ken Squier becoming the studio host, where the pair worked until the end of 2000, when CBS lost the rights to televise NASCAR racing.

Joy's CBS career included most major forms of American motorsports for television: Formula One, CART, IRL, and drag racing, as well as coverage of college football, the Winter Olympics, the Sun Bowl, harness racing's Hambletonian, Pro Beach Volleyball and World Cup Skiing, plus NCAA championship events in soccer, gymnastics, swimming and diving, track and field, lacrosse, and wrestling.

Fox Sports (1998–present)

Joy joined Fox Sports in 1998 to become the lead announcer of Formula One coverage on Fox Sports Net, with Derek Bell as expert analyst.

For the 2001 season, he moved full-time to Fox with the NASCAR TV package. Joy teamed with Hall of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds to form the network's broadcast team. The 2024 Daytona 500 will be his 24th as lead TV race announcer, and the 47th Daytona Speedweeks in which he has been part of live broadcast coverage.

Joy, Waltrip, and McReynolds completed 15 years together in 2015, the longest tenure of any three-man announcing booth in US network sports television history. Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon joined Joy and Waltrip in the FOX-TV booth beginning 2016, with McReynolds moving to a new role as race strategist and rules analyst. Waltrip retired after 2019. FOX added NASCAR Cup driver Clint Bowyer to the booth in 2021. At season's end, Gordon returned to Hendrick Motorsports full-time as vice-chairman. For 2022, Joy and Bowyer were joined by a different guest analyst each week, including Tony Stewart, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.[3]

Fox broadcasts the Daytona 500 and the first 16 NASCAR Cup races each season, plus two all-star events. Joy also anchors NASCAR Cup coverage on Fox-owned cable network Fox Sports 1 (FS1), formerly Speed.[1]

Four weeks every year, Joy brings his extensive knowledge of collector cars to the Barrett-Jackson auction block as lead analyst for the live TV auction coverage. His unscripted commentary mixes detailed knowledge of the cars and their specs with first-hand recall of how cars of the 1950s to 1970s were viewed back in their day. When the TV rights moved to Velocity/Discovery beginning in 2015, Joy was the first talent Discovery hired to lead their broadcast team in the same role on loan from Fox. Beginning in 2020, the Barrett-Jackson TV rights moved to A&E Networks, with Joy continuing in the lead expert role for their [FYI (American TV channel)|FYI] and History channels.

In September 2008, Fox sent Joy to call a Minnesota Twins/Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball game, in which the Rays clinched their first-ever playoff appearance.

Social Media

Joy is very active on social media; his handle is @mikejoy500. He engages in many automotive web forums, from El Caminos to MGs, 240Z to Ford GTs, usually using screen name "200mph".

Mike and his son Scott launched the "Joy Riding" YouTube channel in Fall 2023. The Joys cover a wide variety of collector cars and auto racing... sometimes agreeing to disagree with their experiences and perspectives being 50 years apart.

Honors

Joy is a charter member of the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, and in December 2013, was named sole media representative to the Hall's exclusive nominating process.

In 2000, Joy was inducted into the Riverside Park Speedway Hall of Fame.

In March 2014, a Sporting News poll named Joy first among network television's 15 NASCAR announcers and analysts with a 93% approval rating.[4]

Joy was voted the 2011 recipient of the Henry T. McLemore Award, (now the "American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence"). Presented since 1969, this award celebrates career excellence in motorsports journalism and is voted on solely by past winners. The Motorsports Hall of Fame at Daytona International Speedway displays a wall of plaques honoring the winners, with smaller displays in several track media centers.[5]

In 2019, he was named to the voting panel for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, and on November 10 of that year, he was inducted in the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame.

He is a member, and past vice-president, of the National Motorsports Press Association.

In January 2023, Joy was inducted in the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame

Notable calls

February 15, 1998 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for CBS Sports' coverage of the Daytona 500, where he called Dale Earnhardt's win after his 20th attempt to win the Great American Race.[6]

"20 years of trying, 20 years of frustration. Dale Earnhardt will come to the caution flag to win the Daytona 500! Finally, the most anticipated moment in racing! If John Elway can win the Super Bowl, Dale Earnhardt said he can win the Daytona 500, and if he comes around under caution to complete this final lap, the taste of long awaited victory will be his. Checkered flag! Dale Earnhardt finally is a champion of the Daytona 500!"

March 11, 2001 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, where Kevin Harvick, who was the replacement driver for the late Dale Earnhardt, won his first career race in just his 3rd start beating Jeff Gordon by .006 seconds in one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.[7]

McReynolds: [Gordon] gets a good run there in the middle of three and four! They'll be coming for the white flag right here! One lap to go!
Joy: The Childress team trying to go to victory lane for the second year in a row in this race!
Waltrip: We had a photo finish here last race we getting ready for another one folks! Get up off your seats! Here they go!
Joy: [Gordon] going for two in a row trying to set him up!
Waltrip: Gordon's gonna make the big move here on the inside when they get down here to turn three! Um... slow car might be in the way! Here he comes he's gonna drive it to the bottom!
Joy: Oh Harvick's leaving a lot of bottom open!
Waltrip: Ah this slow car.. slow car.. slow car is gonna be in the way! (Gordon gets to the inside of Harvick)
McReynolds: JUST LIKE A YEAR AGO! HE'S GONNA GET HIM THOUGH! HE'S GONNA GET HIM!
Joy: HERE THEY COME! GORDON GOT LOOSE IT'S HARVICK! (cars cross the finish line)
Waltrip: HARVICK BY INCHES!
McReynolds (over Waltrip): WOAH!
Waltrip: HARVICK BY INCHES! HARVICK BY INCHES! WHAT A RACE!
Joy: HOW-
Waltrip (interrupts Joy): WHAT A FINISH!
Joy: HOW DID JEFF GORDON HANG ON TO THAT CAR THAT LOOSE OFF TURN FOUR?!

March 16, 2003 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, where Ricky Craven edged out Kurt Busch in the closest finish in NASCAR history at 0.002 seconds.[8]

Analyst Darrell Waltrip: Watch this! Here he [Craven] goes! Craven gets [up] that high right next to that wall watch!
Analyst Larry McReynolds: Right there! Right in the middle!
Waltrip: [Craven] Cuts down! He is gonna make it dow– Is he gonna get down under him?! That's not the way to do it I don't know! Come on baby! Come on!
McReynolds Side by side, 2 laps to go! Someone's gotta give getting into turn 1!
Joy: Nobody! Into the wall goes Busch!
Waltrip: That's not– That was not a very good idea!
McReynolds [Busch] Put the crossover move he got into him!
Joy: And here comes [Dave] Blaney! Blaney is now the best car on the track!
Waltrip: Oh ho! Oh! Oh baby! I'm telling you Kurt Busch is not gonna give up the win!
McReynolds: No he's not! They'll be coming to the white flag this time Ricky Craven is not gonna give up either!
Waltrip: Come on Ricky!
McReynolds: He gets that run on the high side right there Kurt Busch has already used up everything with his race car!
Waltrip: Come on baby! Here he comes! Here we go again! He's going to wait on this! He's going to put the crossover on him! He realized that was not a good move that last time!
Joy: White flag!
Waltrip: Here he goes! He's gonna try to slide under him here come on baby!
Joy: And Blaney's coming!
McReynolds: Both these cars are driving terrible right now! Half a lap to go!
Waltrip: Nah! Nah, they're driving good! Come on baby you can do it at this end of the speedway come off of 4, and get up alongside of him!
Joy: Half a mile to go! (Craven looks to the inside of Busch)
Waltrip (over Joy): Here he comes! Here he comes!
McReynolds: Who gets off the corner better?!
Waltrip (over McReynolds): Here he comes! Here he comes he's got him this time!
McReynolds: It's going to be a drag race! (Both cars turn into each other)
Joy and Waltrip: WOW!
McReynolds: THEY TOUCH! THEY TOUCH! (cars cross the finish line)
Joy: CRAVEN!
McReyonalds: OH WOW!
Waltrip: CRAVEN! HE GOT HIM!
Waltrip: CRAVEN GOT HIM!
McReynalds: CRAVEN GOT HIM!
Joy: And–
Waltrip (interrupts Joy): CRAVEN! ALRIGHT! WHAT A FINISH!
Joy: HAVE YOU EVER?!
Waltrip: NO I'VE NEVER!
Joy: WOW!

March 20, 2005 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2005 Golden Corral 500, where Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson by .028 seconds for his first career win in his 17th start.[9]

Waltrip: He (Edwards) moved up to that race track and it's really helping him! I mean he is closing fast now! He's got that high line! He's cutting that gap down boys!
McReynolds: And he's pulling away from Greg Biffle but he better hurry Darrell! Lap and a half to go halfway down the backstretch!
Waltrip: He's coming!
Joy: Four-tenths of a second last lap, three-tenths of a second two laps ago and-
Waltrip (interrupts Joy): Here he comes! This is gonna be another one of those Atlanta's [finishes] I'm telling you they're gonna be side-by-side when they come to the line next time by!
McReynolds: Here they go guys white flag boys last time!
Waltrip: He's there!
Joy: And he cut the margin in less than half!
Waltrip: Hey boys watch this! Jimmie goes up high to block him! That may or may not be good!
McReynolds: If he can get that run right here, if he can get it and keep that momentum!
Waltrip: He's gonna get a run at him!
McReynolds: He'll get one shot in turns three and four!
Waltrip: I'm telling you they're gonna be side-by-side when they come to the line it's going to be another one of those fantastic Atlanta finishes! (Edwards gets to the outside of Johnson)
McReynolds: Johnson tries to block him! It's who can stay in the throttle here off turn 4!
Waltrip: AND HERE THEY COME AND I THINK CARL'S GOT THE ADVANTAGE!
McReynolds: HE GOT HIM! HE GOT HIM! HE GOT HIM!
Joy (over McReynolds): HE DOES! HE WON! ALREADY, HAS WON!
Waltrip (over Joy): ALRIGHT! WOOOOOO! YEAH BABY! YEAH BABY!
McReynolds: TWO-ONE-HUNDRETHS OF A SECOND IN 500 MILES!

February 18, 2007 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2007 Daytona 500, where Kevin Harvick made a last lap pass on Mark Martin to win by 0.02 seconds in a photo finish. Joy's call of the final lap:

Joy: White flag, one lap to go!
Analyst Larry McReynolds: Front four [cars], single file.
Analyst Darrell Waltrip: Here they come, they got to go – they got to get Mark [Martin] moved. They got to move him somehow.
McReynolds: He gets back to that yellow line right around the bottom, all the way through turns 1 and 2.
Waltrip: Mark Martin is driving the race of his life. And there's nobody that's better at holding people off at Daytona.
Joy: Kyle Busch lying back a little bit. Is he gonna get help? Is he gonna come? Is he looking? Almost- he almost squeezed Harvick into the wall, and here comes Harvick, the 29 [car] with Matt Kenseth!
Waltrip: Oh, Mark got loose. Mark got loose.
McReynolds: And Harvick's getting a run off turn 4! It's gonna be a drag race all the way back to the start-finish line! (Kyle Busch spins off turn 4, causing multi-car wreck) No caution! They're side by side right to the line!
Joy: Big crash, here they come. Checkered flag. HARVICK!
McReynolds and Waltrip (over Joy): HARVICK!
Joy: Kevin Harvick wins the Daytona 500!
McReynolds: We got one car on his ROOF coming across the start-finish line, [that's] Clint Bowyer!
Waltrip (over McReynolds): They're still wrecking. They're still wrecking. They're wrecking everywhere. Bowyer's on fire. Jeff Gordon's wrecked.
McReynolds: And they are still wrecking.
Joy: Montoya, Stremme, Kenseth, Biffle, Marlin, Carl Edwards, Casey Mears all crashed on the final lap. **pauses** Have you ever?!
Waltrip: Well, a couple of times.
McReynolds: I'ma repeat what I heard a few years ago, no I have never!

February 17, 2008 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2008 Daytona 500, where Ryan Newman made a last lap pass on Tony Stewart to win his first and only Daytona 500.[10]

Waltrip: Strap down the big TV! She's going to go for a ride!
McReynolds: Here we come white flag! Bell lap! One to go!
Waltrip: Woohoo! Stewart's got the- Stewart's got a great car no question about that! It's just a matter of if Kurt [Busch] can get a little help!
McReynolds: And Ryan jumped to the high side! Tony Stewart blocks him! Here comes Kyle Busch to the bottom!
Waltrip: Uh oh! Toyota drag race down the back! Toyota drag race!
McReynolds: TEAMMATES!
Joy: Newman was trying to get help from the other blue Dodge now he's got it! Toyota on the inside lane! Dodge on the outside lane! Who's gonna win it?!
McReynolds: It's gonna come all the way to the wire! Here they go into turn 3!
Waltrip: Teammates working together! 20 [car], 18 [car]! 2 [car], 12 [car]! 12 [car] is gonna win this race! I don't believe they can catch him back to the line!
McReynolds: HE'S GOING HAVE TO MAKE IT WIDE! HE'S GOING HAVE TO MAKE IT WIDE!
Waltrip (over McReynolds): PEDAL BABY! PEDAL! PEDAL!
Joy: IT'S THE BOILERMAKER RYAN NEWMAN! RYAN NEWMAN (and) ROGER PENSKE WIN THE DAYTONA 500!
Waltrip: WOW! WAY TO GO GUYS! WAY TO GO!
McReynolds: ROGER PENSKE'S FIRST RESTRICTOR PLATE WIN AND HIS FIRST ONE-TWO FINISH!
Waltrip: AND [they] DONE IT IN STYLE MAN ONE-TWO!
Joy: HELLO NEWMAN!

September 20, 2008 – Joy was the play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports's coverage of the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays, where the Rays clinched the team's first playoff berth in franchise history.[11] Joy's call of the final out:

"Fly ball, left field... CAUGHT! Bottom fishers no more! The Rays are going to the playoffs!"

February 14, 2010 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2010 Daytona 500, where Jamie McMurray held off Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win his first and only Daytona 500 of his career.[12]

Joy: This will be the white flag! Jamie McMurray is infront to try to win the 500! This will be the last lap!
Waltrip: Whatever happens now happens folks! They can all wad up down here and somebody is gonna lead out of that 2nd turn a winner!
Joy: Junior on the bottom with Bowyer! Biffle ahead!
McReynolds: Truex trying to get up there and help McMurry but Bowyer's right there behind Biffle in the 16 [car]! There goes Bowyer to the outside!
Waltrip: Look at– Look at– Look at Junior! Come on Junior! Come on!
Joy: Can they make it to the flag?!
Waltrip: Nah! No way! They'll never get through this third turn!
Joy: Junior got squirrelled up right there!
Waltrip: Nah! It's just perfect! He's just flying through there!
Joy: Dale Earnhardt Jr. unbelievably has caught Jamie McMurray as they come to turn four!
McReynolds: He'll have to go to the high side though! McMurray– or guard that line! (Two cars crash in the back)
Joy: Crash at the back! Nevermind! Green flag still out! CHECKERED FLAG IN THE AIR! THE 52ND DAYTONA 500 TO JAMIE MCMURRAY!
Waltrip: MCMURRAY! YES! YES! LITTLE JAMIE BABY! WOOOO!

February 20, 2011 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2011 Daytona 500, where Trevor Bayne pulled off an upset to score his first and only Cup victory of his career in his second Cup Series start.[13]

Joy: They'll face the white flag when they come around to decide the 53rd Daytona 500! Rookie Trevor Bayne in his second Sprint Cup start will lead them to the white flag with Bobby Labonte! Here comes Kurt Busch and Juan [Pablo] Montoya, Carl Edwards in 5th!
McReynolds: And we know that Kurt Busch and Montoya is going to make a move, DW when will they make it?!
Waltrip: I don't think they're gonna make it until turn 4 I mean we keep hearing about I'm a sitting duck when I'm leading this thing so I guess that's what makes the 21 [car] a sitting duck right now but... we'll see here that 22 [car] knows how to win from that position that's where he won the Bud Shootout from!
Joy: Edwards and Gilliland down to the inside trying to–
Waltrip (interrupts Joy): WHERE DID THAT 34 [car] COME FROM?!
McReynolds: That's David Gilliland!
Joy: [Edwards and Gilliland] trying to spoil the party!
Waltrip: Oh my gosh!
McReynolds (over Waltrip): And he spoiled the party for Kurt Busch and Montoya and here they come through turn 4!
Joy: Gilliand, former pole-sitter of the 500! Edwards has room underneath! And now he pushes Trevor Bayne!
Waltrip: IT'S OVER!
Joy: CINDERELLA STORY!
Waltrip: BAYNE IS GOING TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500!
McReynolds: HE DID IT!
Joy: BAYNE WINS IT! UNBELIEVEABLE!
Waltrip: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR BAYNE 20 YEARS OLD! AHHH HA HAAA!

April 17, 2011 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2011 Aaron's 499, where Jimmie Johnson beat Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon in a three-wide finish and in a tie for the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history at 0.002 seconds.[14]

Joy: But they (Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick) can't clear the Fords (Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle) and protect the bottom because Edwards comes storming back on the inside!
Waltrip: Well, what else it does it opens the door for these two cats (Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin) right here who have timed it out pretty darn good coming to the white flag!
McReynolds: And here comes their teammates as well, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr.! White flag this time!
Waltrip: Those have been the two best cars right [for] most of this race they're just now showing it!
Joy: [It's] The bell lap and the man who started up front leads it [it's] Jeff Gordon!
Waltrip: But here comes the next two pair (Bowyer and Harvick) that these two cats right here may have timed it out too! Lets see what happens down the back!
Joy: Now they will get a draft off Mark Martin! And here's the slingshot to the outside!
Waltrip: 'Stay together' that's what their saying 'stay together! Push push push!' It's going to get tight down here in turn three!
Joy: And don't forget Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr. fifth and sixth they are there! Which group will they go with and will it help any of those cars or will it help to get Jeff Gordon to victory lane?!
Waltrip (over Joy): Here they come!
McReynolds: All bets are off [as] they get to the middle of the tri-oval! (Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. look inside)
Waltrip: Watch out down low! They got a run!
Joy (over Waltrip): Way down comes Johnson!
Waltrip: Good run boys!
Joy: HE'S GOT ROOM! THEY'RE THREE-WIDE! THREE BY THREE TO THE LINE! (cars cross the finish line)
Waltrip: JOHNSON!
Joy: MAYBE JIMMIE JOHNSON!
Waltrip: I believe he got him by an inch!
McReynolds: TWO ONE THOUSANDS OF A SECOND! HE BEAT BOWYER!
Waltrip: Okay a sixteenth of an inch!
Joy: Have you ever?!
Waltrip: Oh man!
Joy: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Waltrip: Oh man!
McReynolds: No we have never!
Waltrip: I have never seen anything like that!

March 24, 2013 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2013 Auto Club 400, where Kyle Busch made a last lap pass after the two leaders, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both crashed on the final lap of the race.[15]

Joy: Kyle Busch is one second back, [Dale] Earnhardt [Jr.] is a second and a half, Carl Edwards is two back.
Waltrip: Hamlin is there boys! He's there! He's stalking him! I believe Hamlin's a skosh better!
McReynolds: It seems like he had a bit of an advantage down in turn one and two!
Joy: [Logano and Hamlin] Teammates last year, rivals this year! Friends?! Maybe never!
Waltrip: To the bottom!
Joy (over Waltrip): Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin are going to settle this right now!
Waltrip: Woah! Hamlin cut him some slack! He had a run on him! Oh Hamlin- Joey got loose! He got a little sideways off of [turn] four!
Joy: Hamlin gave him a shot! One to go! Hamlin there, Logano to the bottom trying to hold his ground!
McReynolds: That's gonna be tough though but he's been running good on the bottom! If he can just clear Hamlin right there!
Waltrip: No way he's gonna lose his momentum! They're gonna touch- are they gonna make it?! Going down the back, side by side!
Joy: Kyle Busch closing in!
Waltrip: Watch out for the third place car, Kyle Busch! He's looking!
Joy: Hamlin edges ahead! They- THEY TOUCH! THEY TOUCH AND HERE COMES KYLE!
McReynolds: HERE COMES KYLE BUSCH!
Joy: HAMLIN AND LOGANO IN THE WALL, HAMLIN SPINS DOWN THE RACETRACK, AND KYLE BUSCH WINS IN CALIFORNIA!
Waltrip: I thought they'd be nice to each other, they weren't!

May 5, 2013 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the Aaron's 499, where David Ragan pulled off to win on a last lap pass. Joy's call of the final lap:[16]

Joy: (Jimmie) Johnson looked high, (Matt) Kenseth to draft with Edwards. Johnson to the bottom, (Aric) Almirola to the top!
Waltrip: Man, Matt got shuffled out again!
Joy: Jimmie Johnson with Carl Edwards, but Kenseth up the middle coming back! Help from David Ragan! Up to the bumper of Carl Edwards! Ragan in the middle, his teammate (David) Gilliland is the pusher. They're right on the bumper of Edwards... is there anywhere to go? Ragan to the bottom, Gilliland with him!
Waltrip (over Joy): Look at Ragan!
Joy: David Ragan, July winner at Daytona couple of years ago, Gilliland with him! Edwards up top! Michael Waltrip to help, and here they come off turn 4!
Waltrip: PUSH BOYS, PUSH! PUSH HARD!
Joy: Edwards high, Ragan comes up, covers the spot.
Waltrip (over Joy): GILLILAND! GILLILAND HAS GOT HIM! HE'S GOT HIM!
Joy: Ragan and Gilliland! Front Row Racing is going to victory lane at Talladega! Ragan first, Gilliland second! How about that!

February 23, 2014 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2014 Daytona 500, where Dale Earnhardt Jr. held off Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin to win his 2nd and final Daytona 500 of his career.[17]

Joy: Here we go! Green flag! Two laps!
McReynolds: Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets to that restart box and he is gone!
Waltrip: Yeah that car is– I mean it takes off. Now, he definitely doesn't want to get too far out! We know that's not good and he's making a pretty good gap here!
Joy: Here comes the 2 [car]! Brad Keselowski on the outside! [Keselowski] Got a little help from behind gaining on leader! Junior comes up to cover! Jeff Gordon now leading the inside row! Unless Keselowski or [Kyle] Busch or Denny Hamlin in the 11 [car] drops down, it's Hamlin!
Waltrip: What a move by Hamlin! Woohoo!
McReynolds: Now if we get back to the white flag, we have a race! Look at Stenhouse in that 17 [car] in the middle! Back and fourth and back and fourth!
Waltrip: Boy he just shoved Kyle Busch right out of the way! Ricky Stenhouse in the 17 [car] to third place!
Joy: White flag with Stenhouse up in position to challenge in that blue Ford!
Waltrip: You know what Larry, I believe that tape is gonna stay on there and that baby's gonna come home a winner!
Joy: Denny Hamlin has not lost a race yet this week! He's number 11! Keselowski the 2012 Champ battling back to the top! And Dale Earnhardt Jr., the pied piper of Daytona trying to hold them all at bay!
McReynolds: And Kyle Busch was trying to make a third line at the top of the racetrack!
Waltrip: Boy here they come now this is where it gets interesting! We've seen a lot of passes off turn 4 to the start/finish line! But that 88 [car] is pulling away!
Joy: LESS THAN A MILE TO GO! (Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray make contact and causes a big crash)
Waltrip: OH WE GOT A WRECK!
Joy: THIRD GENERATION STAR DALE EARNHARDT JR., BRINGS THEM TO THE FLAG! CHECKERED FLAG WAVING IT'S OVER! IT'S EARNHARDT!
Waltrip: HA HA! GOOD JOB JUNEBUG! WOO!
Joy: Reed Sorenson's race ends up in a crash, Harvick into the wall past the end of pit road, and Carl Edwards' 99 [car] all torn up! Here comes Kyle Busch backwards across the start/finish line!

June 26, 2016 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2016 Toyota/Save Mart 350, where Tony Stewart won his final career race in a tight last lap against Denny Hamlin.[18]

Joy: And the white flag waves! One [lap] to go sponsored by Credit One Bank.
Analyst Jeff Gordon: Well this is the closest Hamlin's been in a few laps.
Waltrip: I tell you I think Hamlin's going to– He's going to pounce if he's got anything! Tony better not do what he did into [turn] seven this time or he's in trouble. **pauses** He's working him.
Joy: Not close enough.
Waltrip: Nope. Tony is right where he needs to be man.
Gordon: Let's see if he can make a gain. It's all about getting off this corner. He gets in there good. Oh! He missed a little bit. He is trying to make a run. (Hamlin looks inside of Tony) Uh oh. Oh! He wheel hopped and he's gonna get there!
Waltrip: Hamlin is there!
Gordon: He hit him! (Hamlin passes Stewart)
Waltrip: Ahh he got him!
Joy: Oh no!
Waltrip: Oh no! No!
Joy: It's not over!
Gordon: Denny got in there and wheel hopped. I don't think he meant for that to happen but Denny made contact with Tony. I think Tony was also loose getting in there.
Waltrip: Well that is what happened to Tony the lap before you know when he got loose getting into seven and that allowed Hamlin to close up.
Gordon: Hey, this thing's not over guys! Watch what happens into turn 11 in this heavy braking zone!
Joy: Two more corners! Hamlin trying to pull away!
Gordon: Let's see if he's close enough!
Waltrip: I think Tony used up his stuff. I mean we knew he was having issues with the car.
Joy: Here we go! (Stewart looks to the inside of Hamlin)
Gordon: Oh! Oh! Oh! Look at this! Oh!
Joy: Stewart inside! HE IS THERE! HE GETS HAMLIN! THEY HIT! (Stewart passes Hamlin)
Gordon: WOAH!
Joy: AND STEWART COMES OFF TURN 11!
Waltrip: LOOK AT THIS! WOOOOO HO HO HO!
Joy: AND HE'S COMING TO THE FLAG! TONY STEWART WINS!
Gordon: HOW DID HE DO THAT?!
Waltrip: HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! HA HA HAAA!
Gordon: Oh my goodness!

February 14, 2021 – Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer for Fox's coverage of the 2021 Daytona 500, where Michael McDowell scored an upset victory to win his first ever Cup Series race after he made a last lap pass on Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski after both Logano and Keselowski triggered a massive last lap crash.[19]

Joy: White flag! One lap to go sponsored by Credit One Bank!
Gordon: Ok now, these guys- their job if your Austin Dillon- watch these guys! Oh!
Analyst Clint Bowyer (over Gordon): Watch this run that Kevin Harvick has on the bottom!
Gordon: Huge push on the outside! They're all trying to build that run that Keselowski did!
Bowyer: Here goes the 3 car!
Joy: Will Dillon have help?! No they come down to block! Logano goes back up! Keselowski with him! McDowell in toe! Dillon on the bottom!
Gordon: The runs' on top- (Logano and Keselowski spin triggering a huge crash)
Bowyer (interrupts Gordon): OHHHH!
Gordon: OH! TEAMMATES!
Joy: AROUND THEY GO AND A HARD CRASH! KYLE BUSCH!
Gordon: Kyle Larson!
Joy: CAUTION IS OUT!
Gordon: Bubba Wallace is in this! Austin Cindric! Hard hit by Kyle Busch!
(The call after they got the official winner)
Joy: And Michael McDowell from Glendale, Arizona for Bob Jenkins' Front Row Motorsports has won the Daytona 500!
Bowyer: How about that!

Terminology

Silly Season: Joy brought the term to NASCAR during his MRN radio days. "Henry N. Manney used the term frequently in Road & Track to describe the early fall, when there is rampant rumor and speculation about driver/team pairings for the following Formula 1 season. I borrowed it for our broadcasts," Joy said. As the radio feed was carried in each track's press box, writers quickly adopted the term.

Vortex Theory: Joy's unproven theory whereby a large group of high-powered race cars circulating an oval track create a rising column of hot air, which repels rain-producing cloud formations. Though debunked repeatedly by meteorologists and scientists, anecdotal evidence abounds where rain would begin just after a race ended or was slowed by a caution flag. Joy first promoted this "theory" on race telecasts in the 1990s. When he aired it on FOX in 2001, broadcast partner Darrell Waltrip championed its cause. Waltrip popularized Vortex Theory on air to the extent that many drivers and fans think DW invented it. Though still scientifically unproven, evidence to support it continues to build.

Personal life

Joy resides near Winston-Salem, North Carolina with his wife Gaye. They have a son and daughter in college. He restores vintage MGs, and retains his New England roots as CEO and equity partner in New England Racing Fuel Inc., distributor of Sunoco Race Fuels.

Joy is an accomplished sports car racer, winning races at Lime Rock, Pocono, Watkins Glen, and New Hampshire, and has competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, America's premier endurance race. Joy is well known as TV host of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. In August 2012, his drive in Historic Trans-Am at Laguna Seca was awarded the Bonham's Cup, and in September 2013, he won an Historic Trans-Am race at Lime Rock.

He previously developed special events advertising for GM's Pontiac Motor Division, including auto racing and a Hall & Oates rock tour, and managed and promoted a major auto racing facility, Lime Rock Park.

Joy was elected to four two-year terms on the Windsor, Connecticut town council, where his committee was responsible for health, public safety and environmental issues for Windsor's 28,000 residents.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lauer, Cheryl (February 16, 2007). "Behind the Microphone with Mike Joy, NASCAR on Fox". Speed Couch. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  2. ↑ 1981 Atlanta Journal 500 clip on YouTube
  3. ↑ FOXSports PR
  4. ↑ "NASCAR's best and worst TV announcers". Sporting News. 2014-03-21. Archived from the original on 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  5. ↑ "Joy to receive McLemore Award for 2011". www.thatsracin.com. 2011-04-14. Archived from the original on 2015-10-24. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  6. ↑ "Top DAYTONA 500 Moments". Daytona International Speedway. October 13, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  7. ↑ "THROWBACK: Kevin Harvick Stuns Jeff Gordon in One of the Most Thrilling Finishes in NASCAR". 13 March 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  8. ↑ "2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 finish". 27 August 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  9. ↑ "NASCAR Raceday Rewind: 2005 Golden Corral 500". Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Ryan Newman wins Daytona 500". 17 February 2008. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
  11. ↑ MLB (2015-01-30), Rays clinch team's first playoff berth, archived from the original on 2021-12-19, retrieved 2019-03-30
  12. ↑ "McMurray Wins Daytona; Nascar Has to Dig Out of a Hole". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Trevor Bayne's 2011 Daytona 500 Victory Brought Wood Brothers from a 'Real Bad Spot'". Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Jimmie Johnson wins NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway". Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Kyle Busch wins Auto Club 400 race in dramatic finish at Fontana track". 24 March 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Top 10 shockers at Talladega". NASCAR. April 30, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the 2014 Daytona 500". 23 February 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Tony Stewart wins at Sonoma with last-turn pass of Denny Hamlin". 26 June 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Michael McDowell emerges with Daytona 500 victory after massive crash on final lap". USA Today. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
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