Both IndyCar Races After Indy 500 Top One Million Viewers

FOX’s Prime Time telecast of Sunday night’s NTT IndyCar Series Race near St. Louis generated over 1 million viewers, marking the first time since 2016 that both races following the Indianapolis 500 had more than one million viewers.

It was Prime Time, under the lights at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois for last Sunday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500. It was the first IndyCar Series race on a Sunday night televised in Prime Time on a major network as FOX Sports has cleared its highly viewed Sunday night entertainment lineup for the stars of IndyCar.

Viewership Increasing

The race drew 1,012,000 viewers on the FOX telecast, that was up 88 percent from 537,000 viewers for last year’s World Wide Technology Race that was held on August 17, 2024.

It was up 17 percent from last year’s 863,000 viewers for the eighth race of the season at Road America on June 9, 2024.

The race peaked at 1,066,000 viewers from 8:30-8:45 PM Eastern Time.

Also, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was the most watched IndyCar Series race (non-Indy 500) among Adults 18-34 since the 2011 season.

“Our growth trajectory with FOX continues to be incredibly strong, showcasing the many benefits of having an incredible partner that promotes the sport heavily and also provides a consistent network platform for every race,” said Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles.

Through the first eight races of the season, INDYCAR on FOX is averaging 2,007,000 viewers, up 27 percent over last year (1,577,000). That includes the 7.01 million viewers that watched the FOX telecast of the 109^th Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

“FOX is thrilled to see IndyCar’s strong performance in prime time and its continued growth for season versus last year,” said Bill Wanger, FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Head of Programming and Scheduling.

For those fans who tuned in, they saw a wild short oval race under the lights. It was a race that featured 254 passes for position, which tied the series record for this track with 485 total on-track passes.

Christian Rasmussen started 25th and finished third, with 62 passes, the most of any driver in the race.

“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for IndyCar to showcase ourselves in primetime Sunday night,” Rasmussen said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us drivers as well as us as a series to showcase ourselves.”

There was also an event record 14 different leaders, but in the end, it was Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global that took the checkered flag for his first win on a short oval in his career. It was also Kirkwood’s second-straight IndyCar win to go along with his victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on June 1.

Kirkwood has won three IndyCar Series races this season, including April’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“Hopefully it paid off,” Kirkwood said of FOX. “It was great to race on prime time, not only because we’re getting a huge viewership and we’re opening up to a new audience of some people, but when you race at night, every oval race should be at night, apart from the 500. The racing is so much better. Everything gets so much faster. The ambient temperature is down. The track surface temperature is down.

“When things get hot with these cars, they just don’t race as well. That’s why you see races like this. Things get fast and next thing you know people are flat-out passing each other, and it makes for a very exciting show.

“Obviously, it’s a luxury that we all can’t have, but I think when we come back here, it should always be a night race here.”

Tremendous Opportunity for INDYCAR on FOX

Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing started the season with five wins in the first six races this season, but since winning the 109^th Indianapolis 500 on May 25, Palou has finished 25th at Detroit and eighth at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Palou continues to lead the standings after eight races of the 17 on the schedule this season. He leads Pato O’Ward by 73 and Kirkwood by 75 as the series heads to Road America for this weekend’s Xpel Grand Prix at Road America.

“I think it was a great opportunity to do it in a place like this because I think it’s produced some of the best IndyCar races on the schedule, and I think it’s important for that first opportunity to be somewhere where it is nail biting, I would say,” O’Ward said. “We didn’t really know how things were shaping out in the car, so it was very entertaining for us, as well.”