NHRA Racer Tasca Says FOX Sports 'Can Keep Embarrassing Themselves If They'd Like'
'First off,' he said, 'I want to go on record to all my IndyCar friends out there. I don't have many, because I've never been to an IndyCar race, actually. But I have met several drivers over the years. The truth is, I have the utmost respect for what they do, their sport, their fans. Anyone that gets in a race car and risks their life to put on a show for their sponsors and fans, hats off to them.'
Tasca said the commercials' tag line 'wasn't tastefully done at all' but said, 'My emotion was on the fact that the promotion is singling out that they're the fastest motorsport on the planet, and that is factually wrong. It is not true, and anybody that can look at scoreboard can clearly see that,' Tasca said. 'So I think that they overstepped some bounds – which not only pissed me off, [but] it pissed off a lot of NHRA fans and drivers. And it was great to see the passion of race fans over the last week.'
He said, 'We are the fastest motorsport on the planet, although I did get some call-outs from our Bonneville Salt Flats folks. And maybe I have to preface that we are the fastest side-by-side motorsport on the planet. But again, I love their passion, too, so it's all in good fun.'
But he said he was told that Friday's FOX Sports broadcast of the first day of Arizona Nationals action included uncorrected IndyCar commercials.
'So you want to talk about embarrassment? OK. They can keep embarrassing themselves if they'd like, but the harsh reality is we are the fastest motorsport, and I'm very proud to be able to say that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
12 hours ago
- Forbes
Barstool Sports Dave Portnoy Gets ‘Fastest Seat In Sports' In IndyCar
The partnership between IndyCar and FOX Sports now includes Barstool Sports, which signed a deal with the media giant earlier this summer. Barstool founder and CEO Dave Portnoy will kick off that relationship when he is the passenger in the 'Fastest Seat In Sports' before the final race of the NTT IndyCar Series Season – the Borchetta Bourbon Big Machine Music City at Nashville Superspeedway on August 31. Portnoy is FOX Sports newest contributor and the founder of Barstool Sports, a popular multi-platform media empire. Following the recent announcement of the collaboration between FOX Sports and Barstool Sports to create unique and engaging content across multiple platforms, Portnoy will officially make his FOX Sports debut on Saturday, Aug. 30 as part of the network's 'Big Noon Kickoff' college football showcase with the Texas Longhorns visiting the Ohio State Buckeyes. The next day, Portnoy will bring his passion, unique personality and massive following to IndyCar to celebrate the season finale for both the NTT IndyCar Series and INDY NXT by Firestone. Portnoy will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports on Sunday, August 31. Portnoy will help lead the NTT IndyCar Series field to the green flag at the final event of the 2025 season with the 225-lap race on the fast 1.5-mile Nashville Superspeedway oval (live on FOX at 2 pm ET on Aug. 31). The Fastest Seat in Sports is IndyCar's adrenaline-pumping thrill-ride that features celebrities and special guests riding in a custom-built, two-seat NTT IndyCar Series race car that leads the field of drivers to the green flag. Portnoy's Fastest Seat in Sports experience at Nashville Superspeedway will see him follow in the tire tracks of sports legends like Tom Brady, the winningest quarterback in NFL history with seven Super Bowl championships and FOX's lead NFL analyst, who rode in the IndyCar two-seater at the Indianapolis 500 in May. FOX MLB analyst and World Series champion Alex Rodriguez also enjoyed a high-speed ride in the unique INDYCAR SERIES car at St. Petersburg in the 2025 season opener. Other Fastest Seat in Sports passengers include Green Bay Packers star Josh Jacobs, music stars Lady Gaga, Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects, Diplo, Jon Bon Jovi and Riley Green, along with Hollywood personalities like Mark Wahlberg and Simu Liu. Portnoy's visit to the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot will help put the exclamation point on FOX's inaugural season as the exclusive broadcaster of the NTT IndyCar Series The partnership has delivered expanded coverage, immersive storytelling and unprecedented reach across FOX platforms. Viewership for IndyCar on FOX has averaged 1.42 million total viewers through 15 races this season, representing a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2024. This season's Indianapolis 500 drew 7.09 million viewers, making it the most-watched edition of the iconic race in 17 years. 'We are excited to welcome Dave Portnoy to IndyCar and the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot, and we hope he enjoys his ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports,' said Anne Fischgrund, President of the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot. 'His energy and the momentum generated by FOX Sports and Barstool Sports will amplify the excitement of Championship Sunday and help us celebrate the culmination of an incredible IndyCar season.' The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot has become a marquee event in American motorsports, combining championship IndyCar racing with Nashville's signature entertainment, cuisine and culture. Fans can expect a full weekend of festivities including live music, fireworks, camping, driver meet-and-greets and the return of Vintage Indy.
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Forbes
Why Bringing Back Marcus Armstrong For 2026 Is Good For IndyCar Team
Michael Shank, co-owner of Meyer-Shank Racing, likes his IndyCar lineup so much, both drivers will return in 2026. Felix Rosenqvist was already under contract for next season and with the solid season Marcus Armstrong has had in 2025, the young driver from Christchurch, New Zealand received a new contract for next year. Meyer-Shank Racing made the announcement regarding Armstrong's return on Monday, August 18. Marcus Armstrong's Exceptional Development 'Marcus' development this year is exceptional,' team co-owner Michael Shank told me last week before the IndyCar Series race at Portland. 'He has delivered everything that we had hoped for, and he has really come on especially as the year has progressed but not only him but his team too around him has been really good and gotten better. We made some adjustments on that team as the year went, and it's been good.' Armstrong drives the No. 66 Honda at Meyer-Shank. Rosenqvist is the driver of the No. 60 Honda. The 25-year-old New Zealander has recorded ten top ten finishes so far this season, highlighted by a podium at Iowa Speedway — the second of his IndyCar career. 'I'm very pleased and grateful to be back with Meyer Shank Racing and my crew for 2026,' Armstrong said. 'The professionalism and attention to detail is a benchmark throughout the field and we have certainly improved with time together which has been great. We'll look to build on our momentum and work hard to climb the points standings.' Armstrong has also impressed in qualifying, matching his career-best starting position of third (Toronto), and earning a second row start with a fourth-place qualifying effort to kick off the season in St. Petersburg. Armstrong is currently ninth in the NTT IndyCar Series standings, just two points behind eighth-place Colton Herta of Andretti Global. Rosenqvist is seventh in the standings, just four points ahead of Herta. "We're thrilled to have Marcus back for 2026," Shank said. 'He's really grown a lot this season and we're seeing that in his results as the season has gone on. His performance this year has shown that he has all the tools to fight at the front. 'We're excited to continue building on this progress together.' Shank believes the combination of a veteran driver with Rosenqvist and a rapidly improving young driver in Armstrong gives his two-car operation a bright future in IndyCar. 'We've got a veteran, and we've got a relatively newcomer that's coming on,' Shank said. 'If you look at the trajectory of our team this year, I think you've seen what the potential is and where it's headed. 'And because of that, I think a lot of what Felix has accomplished this year may have been overlooked because of the season Alex Palou is having. Almost every other driver is getting overshadowed by Alex Palou. 'It's Felix's best season he's had to date.' That is because Armstrong has helped push him to even faster speeds and better performance. Having a good teammate that can help improve the overall competition the team has been valuable to Rosenqvist. 'One of the things we needed to do with Felix, at the time, we just needed to bring in a really fast guy,' Shank continued. 'And if he's got any baggage with him, as long as he's got his speed, that's where we need to start. And last year, that showed in qualifying. 'We were good on Saturdays but didn't have great Sundays. This year, we've been OK on Saturdays, but our Sundays have improved a lot and that's why we're at where we're at the points right now. 'But we needed a leader to come in. We wanted to make him comfortable. The last place he was at (Arrow McLaren), he never knew if he had a job the next year. So, we've taken that off the table. 'He knows he's got a job, and we ask him to do what we expect him to do. We pay him to be a pro, a veteran.' With Marcus Armstrong's continued development, it has allowed Rosenqvist to elevate his game as this is a teammate situation that works in IndyCar.
Indianapolis Star
15 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Doyel: IndyCar, Barstool's Dave Portnoy are an odd couple made with Roger Penske's blessing
IndyCar is joining the rest of the country, the rest of the world, by making a complete and craven heel turn – because let's be honest: The heels are flush with cash. Have you seen the latest? Here it is. Some of you will cheer this. For the rest of you – bless you – please find a barf bag. Because this is gross: Barstool Sports founder and far-right cretin Dave Portnoy will get the privilege of riding in the Fastest Seat in Sports for the last race of the 2025 IndyCar schedule, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway on Aug. 31. Dave Portnoy has built a career on mean-spiritedness and misogyny, and when he's in a really playful mood, on mean-spirited misogyny. And this is who IndyCar – with its TV rankings in the tank – is giving a marquee spot in its final race? Trying to build a fan base that could use a boost from the female demographic? Brilliant. Portnoy is here because IndyCar jumped into bed with Fox, and FOX Sports jumped into Portnoy's misogynistic bed, and this is what happens when you lie down with pigs: You get muddy. In defense of IndyCar owner Roger Penske, it's possible – likely, even – that he's never heard of Dave Portnoy. Penske, age 88, isn't exactly in Portnoy's puerile demographic. Then again, Portnoy is a far-right cretin, and Penske seems to have embraced that movement, and before you go one step farther, understand something: The U.S. conservative party, at least the one I grew up with, is not the problem. I've voted for Republicans for president, in the past. Gov. Eric Holcomb was my governor here in Indiana from 2017-25, emphasis on my. Was he perfect? No. Neither am I. But he was terrific. Doyel in 2022: Shooting hoops with Gov. Holcomb on the Governor's mansion's outdoor court! Now then, back to that thing you read earlier: Penske seems to have embraced the far-right movement that has bastardized the party of Lincoln. Hey, he has. Trump awarded Penske a Presidential Medal of Freedom during Trump's first term and visited the White House with several members of Team Penske earlier this year, and Trump gives that sort of treatment only to folks who flatter him. You know it, I know it. Also this: Last month, Penske sold a 33% stake of IndyCar to FOX Corp., which, well. You know. Now, more facts in Penske's defense: His Penske Truck Rental company rebuked Department of Homeland Security agents for hiding without permission in Penske trucks during a raid of day laborers in Southern California earlier this month. "Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances," Penske Truck Rental said in a statement posted on X. "The company was not made aware its trucks would be used in today's operation and did not authorize this. Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future." So Penske, or his company anyway, isn't in complete lockstep with Trump. As for Portnoy, he isn't the disease. He's merely a symptom, a sermon delivered to the IndyCar choir. The IndyCar fan base, I suspect, tilts his way. If I'm wrong – if you're an IndyCar fan who is horrified by the sport's hard lean to the far right – please forgive me. I'm basing that assumption on what I see and hear at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500, where the, um, patriotism runs high. If you know what I mean. Meanwhile, here's what the far right has done to IndyCar: Turned the city of Speedway – the home of our Indy 500 – into a joke. You've heard of the Speedway Slammer, yes? That was the idea conceived by the Department of Homeland Security to add another ICE Detention Center, after Alcatraz Alley in Florida, and put it here in Indiana. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem came up with the name, and DHS even came up with a design for the Speedway Slammer: a sporty automobile that looks almost exactly like an Indy car. No, it was an Indy car. It's an Artificial Intelligence-made picture of a No. 5 car. Know who drives the No. 5 car on the IndyCar series? Pato O'Ward. He's an immigrant from Monterrey, Mexico. You can't make it up, though I wish most of this stuff was fiction. More facts in Penske's defense: His people objected to the usage of Indy car imagery. 'We were unaware of plans to incorporate our imagery as part of (the Aug. 5) announcement,' Penske Entertainment said in a statement provided to IndyStar. 'Consistent with our approach to public policy and political issues, we are communicating our preference that our IP not be utilized moving forward in relation to this matter.' That's all well and good, Penske Entertainment, but I see your statement about 'political issues' and raise you that 33% stake you sold to FOX … and the presence of hateful Dave Portnoy in the Fastest Seat in Sports at Nashville. Would the Speedway Slammer in Indiana actually be built in Speedway, Indiana? Well, no. It's in Bunker Hill, Indiana – 71 miles north of Speedway. But Speedway Slammer has a ring to it, doesn't it? And since 2016 we're learned the power of a populist slogan in politics, have we not? Sorry, not sorry, because lots of you insist: Stick to sports! Well, tell politicians to stick to politics. Tell the Department of Homeland Security not to use the fine city of Speedway, Indiana, to money-wash MAGA's cruel immigration agenda. While you're at it, tell Dave Portnoy that the final race of the 2025 IndyCar season is held at the town of Nashville that's located in Illinois, or the Nashville in Arkansas. Maybe he'll fall for it. Geography, like compassion, isn't those folks' strong suit anyway. Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
