Mike Joy may be the play-by-play announcer for FOX NASCAR's coverage of the Cup Series, but the 73-year-old veteran broadcaster played the role of Clint Bowyer and added a little bit of color to his commentary during the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR fans have had a major issue with the amount of ads aired during Cup events for some time now, and Joy directly addressed those fans with a seriously snarky send-off right before Fox cut to the final full-screen commercial break with 85 laps left in the Phoenix race.
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Mike Joy has had enough of the keyboard warriors pic.twitter.com/WHu5sckU0Y
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) March 12, 2023
"Now for all the keyboard warriors, I'm going to do this in words of one syllable. The last green flag full-screen break of this race comes right now," Joy said.
Well, as expected, the keyboard warriors came out in full force on Twitter following Joy's on-air comments.
Mike Joy mocking fans every week, on air, for being frustrated with commercials is really ridiculous and an immature response by FOX Sports.
I understand it’s a necessary evil, but that’s really low.
— Alex (@newgayden) March 12, 2023
hard to have respect for mike joy when he continues to treat the viewers like this https://t.co/heNslnSr2M
— Zack (@DreamyZackGP) March 12, 2023
Mike Joy talking down to fans who have been frustrated with Fox, *NOT NBC*, about commercials for YEARS while the network puts out the same D- broadcast quality it has had since the pandemic began is a bad look.
Being overly defensive at the majority is always a bad look. https://t.co/vVWgvo3t6U
— Jeff (@mr4time) March 12, 2023
omfg mike joy needs to log off for a bit
imagine being a nascar fan who doesn't go on twitter and trying to make sense about what he's talking about with the keyboard warrior comment
— Junk Knuckles (@lawnmowerpranks) March 12, 2023
Naturally, because the internet is divided on just about everything, there were other fans who came to Joy's defense and appreciated his tell-it-like-it-is approach.
Mike Joy out here roasting idiots on Twitter and I absolutely love to see it. Calling out people who constantly complain isn't a bad thing IMO 🙂 pic.twitter.com/eYtqOjpI13
— Kellie Blundell 🐝 (@LeighTheBee48) March 13, 2023
People who are bitching about what Mike Joy said are proving his point lmao
— 🏁_Dalton_🏁 (@_H0LLOW_PRIV) March 12, 2023
Lmfao Mike Joy is owning the idiots 😭😭😭😭😭
— Brett (@22fan4ever) March 12, 2023
Mike Joy is a national treasure
— Jaden (@TheNews__24) March 12, 2023
Of course, Joy didn't have time to reach out to every single fan who had an opinion about his "keyboard warriors" quip, but he did respond to one fan who had this "concise" criticism: "Hey Mike Joy. I'm going to put my opinion of you in single syllables. You suck. #Retire."
"Thanks for being concise," Joy responded. "I value the opinions expressed here, and I don't block anyone. As a race fan, I share many of your concerns. As a broadcast professional, I know why some things cant easily change. Hope you enjoy the race as much as we enjoy bringing it to you."
Joy also wrote back to a Twitter user who suggested having less full-screen commercials during races.
"It worked then but not now," Joy wrote. "We'd be out of business after two races. Nascar charges TV nearly $25M per race in rights fees. Add production costs and it takes a lot of commercials each week to try to break even."
