Follow Larry on Twitter @LarryMac28
In 2001, FOX Sports' first as a NASCAR broadcast partner, two-time Daytona 500 champion crew chief Larry McReynolds traded his tools for a microphone and joined legendary driver Darrell Waltrip and veteran broadcaster Mike Joy to comprise the FOX NASCAR broadcast team. This season marks the trio's 15th together on FOX.
McReynolds also serves as an analyst on FOX Sports 1's NASCAR RACEDAY, the network's prerace show, and NASCAR RACE HUB, its daily NASCAR news and highlight show. He also offers analysis for FOX Sports 1's NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES and NASCAR XFINITY SERIES practice and qualifying coverage. McReynolds, who was inducted into the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall of Fame in December 2013, was a longtime panelist on TRACKSIDE and NASCAR PERFORMANCE on FOX Sports' SPEED.
From his perspective as a former NASCAR crew chief, McReynolds offers keen insight into the complicated inner-workings of race teams, including on-track and pit road strategy, body and engine design and the nuances of the driver/crew chief relationship.
McReynolds embarked on his NASCAR career in 1975, and worked his way up to a crew chief role 10 years later. He served as a Sprint Cup crew chief from 1985-2000, amassing 23 Cup wins, 21 poles, 122 top-five and 209 top-ten finishes. In 1988, McReynolds earned his first Cup win at Watkins Glen International with driver Ricky Rudd.
In 1991, McReynolds teamed with owner Robert Yates and driver Davey Allison to win 11 races and three pole positions between 1991 and mid-1993, establishing himself as one of the sport's elite crew chiefs. He led Allison to a win in the 1992 Daytona 500, and the two swept the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (then The Winston) in 1991-'92. In late 1993, McReynolds teamed with Ernie Irvan, a combination that produced seven wins between late 1993 and 1996 (Irvan missed the 1995 season due to injury). After joining Richard Childress Racing in 1997, McReynolds called the shots as seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt captured the elusive Daytona 500 victory in 1998.
McReynolds' success and thorough approach to his profession earned him selection to the Copenhagen/Skoal All-Pro Team, an all-star "who's who" of crew members, for five straight years (1991-'95), and the 1998 UAW GM Teamwork of Excellence award. In addition, he was inducted into The Oceanside Rotary Club Hall of Fame in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 2008. In 2009, McReynolds received the Living Legends of Auto Racing Russ Moyer Media Award.
He played himself in the 2006 Will Ferrell comedy hit, Talladega Nights. McReynolds also co-hosted NASCAR Performance Show with Steve Post on Motor Racing Network (MRN) between 2004 and 2013, and co-authored the books "The Big Picture: My Life from Pit Road to the Broadcast Booth" and "How to Become a Winning Crew Chief."
Born Jan. 10, 1959, in Birmingham, Ala., McReynolds currently resides in Mooresville, N.C., with his wife, Linda, daughters Brooke and Kendall, and son, Brandon. You may follow McReynolds on Twitter at @LarryMac28 or visit www.larrymcreynolds.com.
