Jeff Gordon joins FOX Sports

Four-time Sprint Cup champion will offer contemporaneous knowledge to veteran NASCAR TV team.

Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Carl Edwards on the set of Fox Sports during the rain delay

Fox Sports reporter, Matt Yocum, reports from the garage area

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet and Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Championship victory lane: NASCAR Nationwide Series 2013 champion owner Roger Penske with Mike Helton

CONCORD, N.C. — Jeff Gordon will join the FOX Sports NASCAR booth in 2016 as the race analyst.

Gordon, a four-time Sprint Cup Champion with 92 wins and 80 career pole positions, joins Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip as part of the race broadcast.

I feel so lucky to be a part of a sport that I’m very passionate about, and now I get the opportunity to share that passion to millions of race fans from a whole new perspective.

Jeff Gordon

“NASCAR has provided me so many incredible memories, experiences and opportunities throughout my 23 years as a driver, and I can’t wait to start a new chapter in racing with this new relationship with FOX and to be in the booth with Mike and Darrell,” Gordon said in the release. “I feel so lucky to be a part of a sport that I’m very passionate about, and now I get the opportunity to share that passion to millions of race fans from a whole new perspective.”

Gordon will offer his expertise for all Sprint Cup Series races, practice and qualifying alongside Joy and Waltrip. Perhaps his greatest contribution will be Gordon’s widespread popularity which transcends racing and a fresh approach to a mature broadcast team.

Representing...

During his tenure as NASCAR President, Mike Helton has watched other drivers transition from the race car. He believes Gordon’s move to TV and staying in the sport will be a greater asset to NASCAR.

It will be fun to follow the sport through Jeff’s eyes.

Mike Helton

“There’s always been big voices in the sport and he’s the current big voice,” Helton said. “It was an opportunity for both sides to come together and it will be fun to follow the sport through Jeff’s eyes.”

Gordon, 43, has been active on the Cup tour for the last 23 seasons. In addition to his 92 victories, the Vallejo, Calif.-native has 772 career starts, 322 top fives ad 461 top 10 finishes. He is currently ninth in the Cup point standings.

This Sunday, the IndyCar Series is honoring Gordon, who spent his formative years in Indiana, by allowing him to drive the pace car for the 99th running of the Indy 500.

“It’s a nice tribute to Jeff,” Helton added. “Jeff’s status as a race car driver crosses a lot of barriers — the talent, just like a Richard Petty did, like Dale Earnhardt Sr. did. As an international, iconic, professional motorsports participant, his tribute on Sunday in the Indianapolis 500 is commensurate with that.”