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Regan Smith to join FOX Sports NASCAR coverage as pit reporter

There will be an intriguing new face on pit road when FOX Sports begins next season’s NASCAR coverage at Daytona.

FOX is expected to announce later today that Regan Smith, the veteran racer who worked as an analyst for FS1’s Race Hub, will become FOX’s newest pit reporter and join Jamie Little, Matt Yocum and Vince Welch on pit road. Chris Neville had been a pit reporter for FOX but will not return.

Smith made 13 starts in the Camping World Truck Series this season — as well as two starts in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 car and one start for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series — which means he brings a current driver’s viewpoint to his analysis. That has worked well on Race Hub and also shined during an Xfinity Series broadcast last season at Iowa.

“My biggest goal in joining pit road is to be able to give viewers something they didn’t know before or to better help them understand something going on with the driver or the car,” Smith said in a statement. “Since I am still competing, I can put into perspective what a driver is feeling at a particular moment.”

The new pit reporter role for Smith will be for both Cup Series and Xfinity broadcasts on FOX.

Smith doesn’t have any current plans to compete next season, but indicated he hasn’t driven his last race. There seems to be a movement in NASCAR TV right now toward more current analysts — FOX has Jeff Gordon and Smith, while NBC just hired Dale Earnhardt Jr. to go along with Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Parker Kligerman — who, like Smith, has balanced insightful analysis with maintaining an active driving career.

Steve Craddock, FOX Sports senior vice president of NASCAR Production, said Smith’s stint as an analyst during the Iowa race last year opened executives’ eyes to his potential as a broadcaster.

“A fan and peer favorite, he has proven himself seamless in translating his years of driving experience to the viewers at home,” Craddock said in a statement.

Aside from Smith, the FOX broadcasts will have a familiar look. Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Gordon return to the Cup booth, with Larry McReynolds as an additional analyst. Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip will broadcast the FOX portion of the Xfinity Series — with a rotation of Cup driver guest analysts — and Welch will call the Truck Series races alongside Phil Parsons and Waltrip.

Pit reporters for the Xfinity races will be Little, Yocum and Smith; Hermie Sadler, Kaitlyn Vincie and Alan Cavanna will call pit road in the Trucks.

In addition, FOX is expected to bring back its “Drivers Only” broadcast for an Xfinity race in 2018 after it was well-received at Pocono this season.

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Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Power Rankings: Week 9

Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Desi was voted off after being ranked No. 8 of the 11 remaining players.

Week 9 Power Rankings: 

1. Ryan (Last week: 1): Guess who is playing the best game the last few weeks and now has an idol to go along with it? I’m feeling better about Ryan’s chances as Ben and Chrissy show cracks in their game.

2. Lauren (Last week: 5): It’s pretty clear there’s a Ryan-Chrissy alliance and a Lauren-Ben alliance now, and Lauren made a good move with her voting advantage last week. By the way, how in the world did the other players not notice there were only 10 votes cast instead of 11? Math genius Chrissy? Hello??

3. Chrissy (Last week: 3): Keeping her at No. 3 against my better judgment. She’s shown some serious cracks in her game recently. I wish she’d stop playing so cocky and doing things like whispering in front of other players. She is smart, but now everyone knows she’s smart. Fortunately, she has a strong alliance to keep her safe for now.

4. Ben (Last week: 2): He’s getting sidetracked by being drawn into yelling matches on the beach with Joe. I understand why he wanted to defend himself, but how often do you see Survivor winners engaged in such antics? It typically doesn’t work out well.

5. Devon (Last week: 4): He’s playing a solid game and I don’t see him being a target anytime in the next couple weeks. The key for Devon is to stay under the radar as long as possible.

6. Mike (Last week: 6): He flipped on Joe/Desi — along with Cole — and seems desperate to integrate himself into the majority alliance. Perhaps he has done that now, but he’s still probably on the bottom — though he does have that idol.

7. Ashley (Last week: 7): There’s no reason to get rid of Ashley at this time, so she’ll probably continue to stick around. That said, what’s her long-term future in the game?

8. Joe (Last week: 9): Joe is pretty much screwed. Even Dr. Mike and Cole flipped on him last week. However, Joe as a wild card could still make something happen, and he could find another idol. I’m not ruling out some more craziness before he gets the boot.

9. JP (Last week: 10): Here’s how clueless JP is about what’s happening in the game: He sees Ryan frantically digging in the sand and walks by like it’s no big deal. He will probably make the final three but get no votes.

10. Cole (Last week: 11): This bum finds a clue to the idol, leaves the plate for other people to find (under a napkin!) and then immediately takes a potty break after he gets back to camp. Then he pretends to have found it after the wrestling battle in the sand. Why?! This guy…ugh.

Eliminated: 

Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)

Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)

Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)

Week 4: Alan (ranked No. 13 of 15 remaining players)

Week 5: Roark (ranked No. 10 of 14 remaining players)

Week 6: Ali (ranked No. 5 of 13 remaining players)

Week 7: Jessica (ranked No. 9 of 12 remaining players)

Week 8: Desi (ranked No. 8 of 11 remaining players)

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Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Power Rankings: Week 8

Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Jessica was voted off after being ranked No. 9 of the 12 remaining players.

Week 8 Power Rankings: 

1. Ryan (Last week: 2): Ryan is making the same moves as Chrissy, but yet he’s not being talked about or viewed as a target like she is. And now he’s in the majority alliance with good numbers — and has bigger targets with him, to boot.

2. Ben (Last week: 3): He was briefly in the middle, but now Ben has shown his cards by going against Yawa and siding with the majority Chrissy/Ryan alliance. That should protect him for weeks to come, because Chrissy seems determined to work with him and she’s actually a bigger target than he is.

3. Chrissy (Last week: 1): This is the most concerned I’ve been about Chrissy’s long-term game. She showed herself to be too smart last week, which got her a ton of votes, and then she was openly talking game with Ben at a group setting where he was basically trying to shush her. I hope she doesn’t get too cocky and sink her own game by becoming a target.

4. Devon (Last week: 6): He ended up in the majority alliance and showed he is willing to be a leader and make moves (there was one scene where he was sort of rallying the troops). Since he gets along well with people and isn’t a target, he could slip under the radar as bigger threats go home.

5. Lauren (Last week: 8): Even though she’s probably on the bottom of the new majority alliance, Lauren should be safe for a few more weeks now. And that might give her time to make some more inroads and relationships with her new group.

6. Mike (Last week: 4): It’s going to be pretty tough for Mike at this point since he doesn’t have the numbers anymore, but I’ll rank him the highest of those in the minority alliance because he seems like a guy who can scramble (and he still has an idol).

7. Ashley (Last week: 7): She ended up on the majority alliance in the merged tribe. That’s great for her and she’ll probably last a few more weeks, at least. But I don’t see her playing the type of game that would be rewarded by the jury in the end.

8. Desi (Last week: 10): Hey, she won immunity. Nice work! This is the highest she’s been in the rankings all year. But I still don’t see her making it to the end, especially now that she is in the smaller alliance. She seems full of surprises, though.

9. Joe (Last week: 5): Welp, Joe is back down the rankings after misplaying his idol and exposing himself as a target yet again. Now he has no protection and is in the minority alliance. I would guess they will come for him soon.

10. JP (Last week: 11): He ended up with the numbers because he’s a loyal guy, but I’m still keeping him toward the bottom of the rankings because he’s simply not playing the type of game that would result in him winning in the end. No jury would go, “Yeah J.P., we’ll give you the money.”

11. Cole (Last week: 12): This guy. Ugh…

Eliminated: 

Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)

Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)

Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)

Week 4: Alan (ranked No. 13 of 15 remaining players)

Week 5: Roark (ranked No. 10 of 14 remaining players)

Week 6: Ali (ranked No. 5 of 13 remaining players)

Week 7: Jessica (ranked No. 9 of 12 remaining players)

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Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Power Rankings: Week 7

Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Ali was voted off after being ranked No. 5 of the 13 remaining players.

Week 7 Power Rankings: 

1. Chrissy (Last week: 3): Ryan got the blood on his hands with the Ali mess while Chrissy stayed out of it. Meanwhile, she goes into the merge with three loyal allies — Ryan, Ben and now JP — and won’t be viewed as a physical threat. Watch out, everyone!

2. Ryan (Last week: 2): Ryan did not handle the Ali situation well, and I question his moves the last couple weeks. That said, the self-described “friggin’ weasel” won’t be a target early in the merge and now has time to work some magic.

3. Ben (Last week: 1): Now that the merge is here, I’m worried he could be viewed as a physical threat and get booted. I don’t think that’s the case because of his social relationships, but it’s concerning enough to drop him a couple spots.

4. Mike (Last week: 4): Mike is pushing himself (he caught a small fish!) and also playing a smart game. He has an idol and a couple strong allies, and he also won’t be targeted as a physical threat in the post-merge game.

5. Joe (Last week: 10): I’ve been hot and cold on Joe all year, but he is dangerous and can play hard in the merged tribe now — especially since he has an idol. At the same time, he could also get voted off any week.

6. Devon (Last week: 6): How will Devon fare in the post-merge tribe. He’s got Ashley and Ryan, to be sure. Can he end up in the majority?

7. Ashley (Last week: 8): I’m not sure how strong of a position she’ll be in on the merged tribe. If Devon can bring her into a Chrissy/Ryan/JP alliance, though, she could last for awhile.

8. Lauren (Last week: 9): She’s not playing a bad game, but where will she fall in the post-merge alliances? That’s my biggest worry for her at the moment.

9. Jessica (Last week: 7): It feels like she’s ultimately going to get dragged down by Cole somehow. I wish she’d just forget him and play the game for herself.

10. Desi (Last week: 11): A couple people have mentioned I’m underestimating her, but I just don’t see her chances as being very strong. And in the post-merge tribe, will she have the numbers?

11. JP (Last week: 12): JP continues to play the “provider” game, but that’s all out the window now in the merged tribe. Now he’s just a physical threat who doesn’t know the game very well, although Chrissy and Ryan may carry him to the final three.

12. Cole (Last week: 13): He catches a fish and doesn’t share the fish. It just shows the type of player he is, although it’s getting to the point where the tribe might go after bigger targets (since they know he won’t win).

Eliminated: 

Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)

Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)

Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)

Week 4: Alan (ranked No. 13 of 15 remaining players)

Week 5: Roark (ranked No. 10 of 14 remaining players)

Week 6: Ali (ranked No. 5 of 13 remaining players)

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Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Power Rankings: Week 6

Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Roark was voted off after being ranked No. 10 of the 14 remaining players.

Week 6 Power Rankings: 

1. Ben (Last week: 4): He didn’t show anything strategically in the last episode to get him moved up, it’s just more that the top three — Ryan, Chrissy and Ali — left me a bit more uncertain about their long-term prospects.

2. Ryan (Last week: 1): Look, Ryan did the right thing by keeping his ally Chrissy in the game — even at the risk of angering Ali. Hopefully he can mend fences with Ali. If not, he made a huge mistake by not getting Ali on board with the Roark vote. Never blindside your own allies. How will he explain this one?

3. Chrissy (Last week: 2): Ryan saved her this time, and I still really believe in her long-term game. But she can’t have too many more close calls like that.

4. Mike (Last week: 5): You can never underestimate Dr. Mike! That’s according to Dr. Mike, anyway. And heck, he found the immunity idol and formed more of a bond with Jessica. All good news!

5. Ali (Last week: 3): It was harsh news to Ali to find out ally Ryan didn’t vote with her when she wanted Chrissy out. This next episode is crucial to see how she moves on from that.

6. Devon (Last week: 6): It’s the Ashley/Devon show over on the blue tribe, but we’ll see what happens in a two-two split. Would they really go to rocks?

7. Jessica (Last week: 11): She’s starting to move up the ladder. I was impressed that she was willing to work with Dr. Mike and they found the idol together. If she doesn’t rely on Cole for everything, it could be helpful for her game in the long run.

8. Ashley (Last week: 8): It’s good that she and Devon are on the same page, and if they could get Joe out, it would be a major accomplishment. But they’ll probably need to pull in Desi to do that, and I don’t know if they can.

9. Lauren (Last week: 7): She didn’t do anything wrong, but I don’t really feel like she has a great alliance with anyone (the kind that would protect her if she really became a target).

10. Joe (Last week: 9): Look, Joe is very smart. But I’m not sure he can successfully play like Tony all the way to the end. That’s why I’m going to keep him lower in the rankings for now.

11. Desi (Last week: 12): We just don’t see much of Desi on the show. It’s hard to know if she’s making any moves, but I don’t think she is.

12. JP (Last week: 13): Each week, JP is sort of just…there. You have to play strategically in order to win.

13. Cole (Last week: 14): The spoon-licker with gross habits and a huge mouth isn’t going to win.

Eliminated: 

Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)

Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)

Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)

Week 4: Alan (ranked No. 13 of 15 remaining players)

Week 5: Roark (ranked No. 10 of 14 remaining players)

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Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Power Rankings: Week 5

Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Alan was voted off after being ranked No. 13 of the 15 remaining players.

Week 5 Power Rankings: 

1. Ryan (Last week: 3): A great stroke of fortune to end up on the same tribe as Chrissy after gifting her the super idol in Week 1. Very few people will look at him as a threat at this point, and that should help him make the merge.

2. Chrissy (Last week: 4): She’s in a great position again, going right from one ally (Ben) to another (Ryan). And she’s got the instant bond with Ryan thanks to the super idol gift. I like her chances more and more, because she has a great social game.

3. Ali (Last week: 2): She’s on a remade tribe with two Heroes (Chrissy and JP), two Hustlers (herself and Ryan) and Roark in the middle. But I feel like JP would be the first target there, so I think she may be OK.

4. Ben (Last week: 1): He didn’t do anything wrong to get moved down after I had him at the top of the rankings all season, but he’s in an unfavorable position on his new tribe (which has three Healers, only one Hero and one Hustler, which is Lauren). So he needs to survive that first cut, which could be tricky.

 

5. Mike (Last week: 5): I’m going to keep Mike in the top five for now, if for no other reason than he has a clear majority on his new tribe (the one with three Healers). So he’s likely not going home in the next couple weeks.

6. Devon (Last week: 6): He got screwed by the vote steal last week (“That is not a secret advantage!”) and I wonder where this leaves him. Hopefully he can scramble to join up with Ashley and keep fighting that way.

7. Lauren (Last week: 8): She showed some social smarts by telling Mike the information about Jessica’s advantage that Cole had stupidly relayed to her. If she keeps that up, she could make the merge — although she’s in a terrible position with the numbers on her new tribe. She and Ben need to form an alliance and see if they can pull Mike in.

8. Ashley (Last week: 7): She had everything set up well and looked like she’d be OK playing with Alan out of necessity, and then the secret advantage craziness ruined her side’s plans. I’m not sure where this leaves her and Devon.

9. Joe (Last week: 14): Just when you think Joe is a poor man’s Tony, he somehow scrambles and pulls off a crazy move. Is it possible he could keep this up? I don’t know, but it’s interesting to watch.

10. Roark (Last week: 9): The tribe Roark ended up on puts her as the swing vote for whenever the first tribal council happens. She should be safe for now if she navigates that correctly.

11. Jessica (Last week: 11): She misplayed the secret advantage (should have used it to take away Alan or Ashley’s vote, not Devon), but it still ended up working out anyway. Still, I don’t think she is a serious threat to win.

12. Desi (Last week: 12): She’s sort of along for the ride right now with Joe, which probably isn’t a very comfortable place to be.

13. JP (Last week: 10): It’s clear by listening to other players that JP has no respect as a competitor. Aside from working around camp, he’s not playing the game at all. So he won’t be winning the million dollars.

14. Cole (Last week: 15): This guy has such a big mouth. No one can trust him, not even Jessica. That’s not how you win Survivor.

Eliminated: 

Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)

Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)

Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)

Week 4: Alan (ranked No. 13 of 15 remaining players)

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Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers Power Rankings: Week 4

Each week during this season of Survivor, I’ll be ranking the castaways in terms of best chance to win the game. Last week, Patrick was voted off after being ranked No. 16 of the 16 remaining players.

Week 4 Power Rankings: 

1. Ben (Last week: 1): I really hope he ends up with Chrissy on his new tribe, because I liked that pairing a lot. No reason to drop him in the rankings.

2. Ali (Last week: 5): She’s playing a great game. It’s too bad former ally Patrick couldn’t be smart enough to help her advance, but she’s good at forming relationships with many different kinds of people.

3. Ryan (Last week: 2): I’m still liking the game Ryan is playing, but I worry he could be targeted as a weak player in challenges on his new tribe.

4. Chrissy (Last week: 3): With a tribe swap approaching, Chrissy will need to get herself off the bottom quickly in order to avoid a similar “Mom Squad” scenario she experienced in Week 1. I hope she can find some people to work with.

5. Mike (Last week: 6): It’s more likely a tribe swap could help him than hurt him. He shouldn’t be a target right away, especially if he’s not on the same tribe as Joe (since Joe had been telling everyone Mike had an idol). On the other hand, he sits out of challenges and could be viewed as an easy target if people want to get rid of a weak competitor.

6. Devon (Last week: 7): I want to see more out of Devon before I can start to think he’s a major player in this game.

7. Ashley (Last week: 9): It’s hard to see her winning the whole game right now, but she’s not playing herself out of it as long as she avoids the JP relationship distraction.

8. Lauren (Last week: 11): Now that Patrick is gone and a tribe swap is approaching, could better days be ahead for Lauren?

9. Roark (Last week: 12): We still don’t know much about Roark, but she keeps moving up the power rankings because of people playing actively worse games than she is.

10. JP (Last week: 8): Despite his skills as a provider, he doesn’t seem to have much of a social game. We got some insight into his future when Chrissy and Ben were considering getting rid of him.

11. Jessica (Last week: 13): She seems like a sweet person (with rare kisses!) but not the kind of cutthroat strategist who would win Survivor.

12. Desi (Last week: 14): We don’t see much of Desi, except she and Roark were both offended last week by Joe throwing food away.

13. Alan (Last week: 15): He had a quiet week, so maybe he can establish himself on his new tribe. That said, I’m still not very high on his long-term prospects.

14. Joe (Last week: 4): This guy has been on a roller coaster in the power rankings. One week I’ll like his gameplay — because I want to like his style — and the next week I’ll be down on him. This week? Bleh. Throwing food into the woods because he’s too picky about it? Not a good sign at all.

15. Cole (Last week: 10): From my notes while watching last week’s episode, I wrote down, “Cole is dumb.” Maybe it’s because he’s going around telling everyone about Joe’s idol. Maybe it’s because of his showmance with Jessica. Maybe both. Either way, he’s not going to win Survivor.

Eliminated: 

Week 1: Katrina (ranked No. 6 of 18 remaining players)

Week 2: Simone (ranked No. 17 of 17 remaining players)

Week 3: Patrick (ranked No. 16 of 16 remaining players)