Jeff Gordon to Join Fox Sports as Racing Analyst for Sprint Cup Races in 2016

Legendary NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon won't be staying away from the track even when he retires from competition following the current Sprint Cup season. Gordon announced Thursday that he's signed on with Fox Sports to be a racing analyst during the 2016 campaign.   

Fox Sports 1 provided footage of Gordon reflecting on the end of his racing career and then indicating he will join the network's coverage team next season:

An official release from Fox Sports contained what Gordon had to say about the next phase of his life, which will still feature plenty of stock car racing:

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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 (Joy) and Darrell [Waltrip]...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.

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Gordon is a four-time champion on NASCAR's top circuit, winning all of his titles from 1995 through 2001, and he's won the Daytona 500 three times. The 43-year-old veteran will hand the No. 24 car's keys to promising Hendrick Motorsports prodigy Chase Elliott in 2016.

NASCAR fans have to be excited about Gordon's willingness to stay around the sport and offer his unique perspective. Teaming with another prolific driver in Darrell Waltrip should make Fox Sports' NASCAR coverage all the more exceptional.

There haven't been many better NASCAR ambassadors than Gordon in the modern era, so his presence and inside analysis will help keep fans engaged.