FOX Believes IndyCar Is Ready For Prime Time At Gateway Sunday Night

Forbes

19 hours ago

Scott McLaughlin (3) leads the field into Turn 3 during the 2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at ... More World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
It's a new age for the NTT IndyCar Series as FOX Sports will put the high-speed racing series in prime time on a Sunday night in the June 15 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Instead of Homer Simpson, FOX viewers will get Will Power. Instead of Family Guy, it's Graham Rahal.
Viewers of The Snake will see Alex Palou zig-zagging his way through traffic at the 1.25-mile short oval.
It's the first time an IndyCar race will be televised in prime time by a major network since NBC televised the Genesys 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 6, 2020.
The circumstances were much different, however.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down most of the world, that was the first race of the 2020 IndyCar Series season. The previous races on the schedule were canceled for health reasons.
The race at Texas in 2020 was contested without spectators, so the only way to watch was on NBC.
On Sunday night, June 15, the prime-time race is by design. It's another indication that FOX Sports is an aggressive and active partner of IndyCar and want to feature this exciting form of racing at a time of day when no other motorsport is racing.
Formula One's Canadian Grand Prix starts at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC. The first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Time from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. It's a 15-turn, 2.42-mile layout in North America's most populous city as 9,209,942 live in Mexico City compared to New York City's population of 8,335,898.
Yes, folks, Mexico is located in North America, not Central America or South America for the geographically challenged.
The NASCAR Cup Series race will be televised on Amazon Prime.
That sets up the finale of the day, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – IndyCar's first short oval race of the season. The FOX telecast is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
IndyCar drivers are anxious to prove they are ready for Prime Time.
'Freaking awesome,' Arrow McLaren star Pato O'Ward of Monterrey, Mexico told me. 'Oval races in IndyCar are better when they're at night. I can't think of a better day to do it.
'Just the commitment that FOX Sports has put in this year. They've done so much already, and you can definitely see that they're in here for the long haul and they wanted to see us succeed.'
FOX is doing more than televising an IndyCar race at night. FOX is giving IndyCar is most-watched night of the week from an entertainment standpoint featuring some of the most iconic TV shows in the past 25 seasons.
'They picked a good race to do it,' driver David Malukas told me. 'I always think the racing at St. Louis is incredible, especially towards the end of the race. It's just nonstop action until the end, so I just know that no matter what time, prime time, they're going to be watching their shows, and they're going to say, 'Oh, what's this IndyCar? What's going on?'
'And whatever time of that race they're going to be watching, and think, 'Well, this is cool, I want to be a part of this.''
IndyCar Series drivers are confident they can live up to the promise and potential with an entertaining race.
'Honestly, I think it only gets better in the night,' Conor Daly told me Friday at the track. 'I love this track. I think it produces a great product, and we just got to go out there and make it happen.
'Hopefully the weather cooperates, and we can put on a great show for these fans and the Sunday Night primetime FOX audience.'
This year's telecast of the 109th Indianapolis 500 drew the largest TV audience in 17 years as 7.01 million viewers tuned into FOX's first-ever Indy 500. The audience peaked at 8.5 million from 4:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET to watch the dramatic conclusion of the race.
That was a 46 percent increase over last year's rating, the final Indy 500 on NBC.
Scott Dixon after winning the NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on August 27, 2023, ... More at World Wide Technology Raceway. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
'The 500 was definitely a good jolt in the arm that everybody needed,' Scott Dixon told me. 'Hopefully they can continue that success, throughout.
'I guess we'll have to see how the Sunday night races really go for TV. For us, racing under the lights is definitely perfect. The IndyCars were a lot of fun, and what better place to do it than St. Louis?'
Dixon is a two-time winner at the 1.25-mile Gateway oval. Power drove to victory here in 2018, the same year he won his only Indy 500.
To see a tremendous jump in the Indy 500 rating is great news for IndyCar momentum.
'It was amazing,' Team Penske's Will Power told me. 'I knew it was going to be a big rating. I just knew.
'The sold-out crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, all the promotion FOX had done, and IndyCar had done, we're lucky, man.
'I'm glad we have FOX as a partner and it's looking better than ever.'
Another Team Penske driver, Scott McLaughlin, is one of the top drivers at Gateway and finished second in the 2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500. He hopes to be one of the main stars in the battle for the checkered flag on the FOX prime time telecast.
'That's huge news, huge news,' McLaughlin told me. 'Any time you can get an oval at night too, I think the cars look spectacular.
'I'm super, super excited for everyone involved. Look, we just got to thank Fox. They're a great broadcast partner that I want to see the best for our ratings. We just come out of a massive ratings hit at Indy where we surpassed the Daytona 500. There's only one way out from here and I'm really proud to be a part of IndyCar right now with FOX.'
McLaughlin had mixed views on the massive ratings increase for this year's Indy 500. It was great for the series and the race, but McLaughlin crashed on the Pace Lap and never turned a lap in this year's Indy 500.
'You could say 8.5 million people saw me make a massive mistake,' McLaughlin quipped. 'I'm not joking.
'Outside of that, it's an amazing number. Our race events and our sponsorships and everything is targeted on audience and targeted on who we're attracting. I just, the amount of people that I've seen at races this year, every attendance figure for every track that we've gone to is high, and more than it was last year. So, we're going to the moon, and that's what I'm really excited about.'
Being featured in prime time is very important to IndyCar's key stakeholders and partners, including the two engine manufacturers at Chevrolet and Honda.
Jim Campbell is Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports for General Motors. To see the GM products showcased in front of a bigger audience is important for the manufacturer that invests so much effort and resources to the NTT IndyCar Series.
General Motors Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports Jim Campbell. (Photo by David ... More Becker/NASCAR via Getty Images)
'To have a prime spot like that on Sunday night, it's absolutely amazing,' Campbell told me. 'By the way, years and years ago, I used to live in St. Louis. I went to school there. I love that area. That track is so much action on that track. So, to have FOX create a prime spot on Sunday evening is absolutely incredible.
'We love it.'
Campbell believes a prime-time race in the second race after the 109thIndianapolis 500 can continue the momentum for the series, which helps create more awareness for Chevrolet and its products.
'It's huge,' he said. Certainly, we look at every race weekend. How do we compete on the track? But then we look at how was the event. exposed to fans around the world, and FOX Sports did an amazing job.
'And it didn't happen in one day, it was a result of an immense amount of planning, great storylines, great coverage, and also the excitement on the track. It's just a combination.
'It was really, in some ways, a team effort between FOX Sports and the IndyCar. as well as all the race teams. It's so exciting to see that kind of momentum and TV ratings. And then also, which is a little bit harder to read, is all the social media activity was immense. All that together creates energy and focus and enthusiasm for IndyCar racing.
'Of course, we love it. The racing on the tracks, wheel-to-wheel, the competition's so intense, and they delivered a massive win on the ratings.'
FOX has given IndyCar a massive platform to expose its product to a mainstream audience. It's up to IndyCar to deliver with a showstopping product.
'We can only hope,' Daly said. 'That's the goal. Sunday night. Prime Time. It reminds me of Sunday Night Football. Everyone watches Sunday Night Football. So, we love to see it.
'I love it for FOX. Love it for IndyCar and hopefully all of our partners as well.'
FOX Sports Camera (Photo by Maria Lysaker/UFL/Getty Images)