Darrell Waltrip returning to Fox NASCAR booth for Bristol Motor Speedway race

NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and Franklin resident Darrell Waltrip will be back in the FOX broadcast booth on April 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Waltrip, 75, with his signature "Boogity, boogity, boogity," retired in 2019 after 19 year as one of NASCAR's most popular broadcasters. He'll be back as guest analyst on FOX alongside former colleague Mike Joy and analyst Clint Bowyer for the Food City Dirt Race.

"I’m thrilled to have the chance to drop in and call the Bristol Dirt Race," said Waltrip, three-time champion and the winningest driver at Bristol with 12 victories. "When FOX first asked me, I was super excited because Bristol is, by far, my favorite track. If I could pick just one race to call, it would be Bristol. The track is honoring Easter with a special celebration service, and we’ll top it off with a great race that evening."

Calling a dirt race, Waltrip said, makes his return even more exiting.

"I won a few dirt races early in my career, before they did away with the dirt track near me at the time, and I called Prelude to the Dream races at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway," he said.

"That was a ton of fun. I’m really excited to see how the new car reacts to the dirt. Teams learn a little more about this car every week, and the racing seems to get better and better. I’m sure Bristol Dirt will throw a few monkey wrenches at them and hopefully make for a great race."

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FOX hasn't announced a permanent replacement for Jeff Gordon, who left the broadcast after five years in 2021 to become vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports.

The network has used a rotation to serve as analysts so far including Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick and Matt Kenseth.

Gordon returned to call the Atlanta Motor Speedway race on March 20 and Chad Knaus called the Richmond Race (April 3) and is at Martinsville for Saturday's race.

FOX officials have not said if Waltrip will be back for more than the one race.

At 3:30 p.m. prior to the start of prerace programming, FS1 will televise Bristol Motor Speedway’s Easter celebration service from outside the stadium in the fan midway area. Waltrip will be part of that broadcast.

Pastor Max Lucado will deliver an Easter Sunday message with musical performances by Grammy Award winner Chris Tomlin and Gary LeVox, former lead singer for Rascal Flatts.

The hourlong coverage will also include interviews and features with Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell, Ty Dillon and Regan Smith in which they and their families share their Easter traditions.

There also will be a feature on Speedway Motorsports Inc. President and COO Marcus Smith.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Darrell Waltrip returns to Fox NASCAR booth for Bristol Motor Speedway race