Mike Joy

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.[2] MRN hired him as a freelancer in 1975, then full-time in late 1978, working weekdays in marketing for Daytona International Speedway.[2] 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.[2][3]

In June 1983, Joy became a pit reporter for CBS' coverage, working with Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett.[2] Since CBS didn't broadcast many races, he also continued to broadcast for MRN radio.[2]

Joy also launched The Nashville Network's NASCAR coverage in 1991, as lap-by-lap announcer,[2] 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.

Mike 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 2020 Daytona 500 is his 20th as lead TV race announcer, and the 44th Daytona Speedweeks in which he has been part of live broadcast coverage.

In 2015, Joy, Waltrip, and McReynolds completed 15 years together, the longest tenure of any three-man announcing booth in US network sports television history. Beginning 2016, four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon joined Joy and Waltrip in the FOX-TV booth, with McReynolds moving to a new role as race strategist and rules analyst. On June 23, 2019, Waltrip retired from television.[4]

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.[2]

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 2015, Joy was the first talent Discovery hired to lead their broadcast team in the same role on loan from Fox. Beginning 2020, the Barrett-Jackson TV rights move to A&E Networks' History channel, with Joy continuing in the lead expert role.

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.

Joy is very active on social media; his Twitter handle is @mikejoy500. He engages in many automotive web forums, from El Camino to MG to Ford GT, usually using the screen name "200mph".

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.

Joy was voted the 2011 recipient of the Henry T McLemore Award. Presented since 1969, this award celebrates career excellence in motorsports journalism and is voted on by past winners. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame presents the Award at its annual induction ceremony, and the hall displays a wall of plaques honoring the winners.[5]

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

In March 2014, a Sporting News poll named Joy first among network television's 15 NASCAR announcers and analysts with a 93% approval rating.[6]

In 2019, Mike was named to the voting panel for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.

On November 10, 2019, Joy was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame. In 2000, Mike was inducted into the Riverside Park Speedway Hall of Fame.