Mike Joy & Trans-Am Racer Ken Epsman Walk Jay Through Three Classic Race Cars
Jay Leno recently featured FOX NASCAR Announcer Mike Joy alongside three classic Trans-Am race cars on Jay Leno’s Garage. A classic car enthusiast himself, Joy walked Leno through the history of Trans-Am racing and the unique vehicle specifications allowing each car to compete in Trans-Am races from 1966 to 1972. The first of two race cars on the episode is from Mike Joy’s personal collection, a very special 1970 Chevy Camaro Trans-Am. The second featured car is a Chevy Javelin that raced the same era.
Following the walkthrough of each vehicle, ‘the voice of NASCAR’ Mike Joy explains that NASCAR has been his passion for forty-five years and that Trans-Am racing has been his ongoing hobby. With the beginning of the NASCAR season set to start with the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Sunday, February 5th airing on FOX at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), 2023 will be Joy’s 45th season in the booth.
Mike Joy explains, “My heart is right here in these cars but my profession has been calling NASCAR for these many years. This year will be my 45th Daytona 500 for either radio or TV, and we all kick it off over here at the L.A. Coliseum. We’re going to run NASCAR cars inside the Coliseum in the Busch Clash for the second year. We’ll do that the first weekend of February and then the Daytona 500 on FOX in mid-February.”
During the walk around of the vehicles, Joy discusses with Leno the special specification that classified Trans-Am race cars. He explains that in 1966, the Sports Car Club of America created the pro-series for sedans which were mostly stock vehicles with some restrictions. V8 powered sedans have a 305 cubic inch limit and a two liter limit for 4 cylinder cars, which allowed local racers to race against factory teams by upgrading their license to pro as long as they had an A or B category SCCA car.
Following the in-garage walk-around, Joy joined Leno for a test drive in Ken Epsman’s Trans-Am Mustang. One of Jay’s impressions from the experience behind the wheel: “These were the final iteration of ‘race on Sunday, buy on Monday’ (cars) because you could go to a race on Sunday and see a team’s car, and you could actually buy that car. You really can’t get close to buying a race car anymore.”
Following the 2023 Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, the Daytona 500 will air Sunday, February 19th, on FOX at 11:30 a.m. (Pacific Time).
To watch the show and learn more about the vehicle, check out the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube. For the latest NASCAR news visit Fox Sports.
