.jpg) Bagley inTalladega Superspeedway in 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Bagman Baggie Bags |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | (1969-12-29)December 29, 1969 (age 55) |
| Occupation(s) | NASCAR commentator Turn announcer Radio show host |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Employer(s) | Motor Racing Network Sirius XM NBC Sports |
| Updated on December 29, 2015 | |
Michael Bagley is an American motorsports commentator who works for theMotor Racing Network. As of the 2025 season, he is the lead commentator for MRN after serving as a turn announcer from 1998 to 2024. He has worked for the radio network since 1992, becoming a turn announcer in 1998. Since 2008, Bagley has been a co-host of the nationally syndicatedSirius XM showThe Morning Drive onSirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Born inSalisbury, Maryland, Bagley grew up listening toNASCAR races on MRN radio and developed a fascination with the race lap-by-lap calls, "so much so that I used to have a box of Matchbox cars. We had a shag rug in the den and every Sunday I'd plug the radio in, set it on the floor and mat down the rug in the shape of whatever track they were racing at. I would move my Matchbox cars around that makeshift track listening toBarney Hall,Eli Gold,Mike Joy,Jerry Punch, andNed Jarrett; and became fascinated with NASCAR. At the same time, I also became fascinated with radio. I used to hang out at a local station and watch the DJ behind the booth."[1]
After receiving a letter from then-General Manager of MRN John McMullen, Bagley began running boxes of cables to their respective turn positions atDover International Speedway. In 1992, he worked his first race as a turn announcer for anXfinity Series race atWatkins Glen International.[1] "I got a call one day to work the Fay's 150 at Watkins Glen in 1992. I worked the '90' (Turn 1) that day and I thought that was an awful performance. But obviously, the powers that be heard something they liked and the rest is history. Here I am almost 23 years later to the day."[1]
Since 2025, Bagley serves as a lead booth broadcaster for the three national series with Alex Hayden and Rusty Wallace at MRN Radio. Prior to the 2024 season, he served as secondary turn announcer for MRN. He works turns 3 & 4 at most tracks, the backstretch atRichmond Raceway, turn 2 atPocono Raceway, and the backstretch at bothDaytona International Speedway andTalladega Superspeedway. Bagley is normally the host of pre-race coverage before races most weekends.
Since 2008, Bagley has been a co-host of theSirius XM showThe Morning Drive onSirius XM NASCAR Radio. He originally worked the show with David Poole until Poole suffered a fatal heart attack on April 26, 2009. After rotating hosts for the next two and a half months, he began doing the show with MRN colleague Pete Pistone on July 6. The two men do the show from different locations with Bagley in (Chesapeake bay studios)Annapolis, Maryland and Pistone inChicago.
Unlike his other MRN colleaguesDave Moody and Pistone, Bagley is known for being eccentric, over the top and being into electronic dance music. Being a self-described "history buff," a hallmark ofThe Morning Drive is a short – usually ten-minute – segment called "The Calendar" in which he describes what events are associated with the day in question, such as holidays. He also runs down a list of historical events that happened on "this day" in past years and people who were born on the day in question from outside the world of NASCAR as well as those in the world of NASCAR.
Since 2017,NBC Sports has hired Bagley to assist in selected races at longer circuits. In 2017-19 and again in 2021, Bagley was assigned to the "S"s atWatkins Glen International, and was expanded to thePocono Raceway andIndianapolis Motor Speedway weekend, assigned to Turn 2 as part of NBC's radio-style coverage plans.