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Fox News
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox News
INDYCAR Power Rankings: It's Alex Palou And Then Everyone Else
Alex Palou didn't win at Portland, but he celebrated big on Sunday night. Palou won his fourth title (third consecutive) with his third-place finish. So in the rankings, he has all the power — even though Portland was a big weekend for race winner Will Power. Here are the power rankings following Portland and entering a weekend off before the season ends with races at Milwaukee and Nashville. Dropped out: Kyle Kirkwood (Last Week: 7), David Malukas (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas, Christian Rasmussen 10. Graham Rahal (Last Week: Not Ranked) Rahal finished fourth at Portland, continuing a stretch of four solid finishes in the last five races with an 11th, seventh, 12th and then the fourth among them. Rahal left Portland with a good feeling about his Rahal Letterman Lanigan teams on road courses. 9. Scott McLaughlin (Last Week: Not Ranked) McLaughlin started 11th and finished seventh at Portland. The Penske driver is 11th in the standings, thanks to three top 10s in his last five starts. 8. Colton Herta (Last Week: 5) Herta finished 10th at Portland and that might feel respectable, but the Andretti team tested at Portland a week prior to the race and Herta was the best in 10th. Andretti had three top fives in his previous five races. 7. Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 9) Rosenqvist started on the front row, so finishing ninth was a little disappointing for the Meyer Shank Racing driver. The top-10 result stopped the bleeding from a couple of bad finishes. It was his fourth top 10 in his last seven starts. 6. Marcus Armstrong (Last Week: 6) Armstrong placed eighth at Portland. It was the eighth top 10 in the last nine starts for the Meyer Shank Racing driver. He isn't rattling off top fives but he's a staple in the top 10. 5. Scott Dixon (Last Week: 4) Dixon started ninth and finished 11th in a day when he got into the back of Josef Newgarden at one point. The 11th-place finish ended a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. 4. Will Power (Last Week: 8) Power earned the first win for Team Penske as he celebrated the victory at Portland. It was his fifth top five of the season and his first on a road course since Detroit. 3. Pato O'Ward (Last Week: 2) O'Ward led 15 laps before a wiring issue shorted out an electrical box that was part of the engine system. He finished 10 laps down in 25th. The Arrow McLaren driver had finished in the top five in each of his last five starts. 2. Christian Lundgaard (Last Week: 3) Lundgaard posted the fastest speed in qualifying and finished second at Portland for back-to-back second-place finishes. The Arrow McLaren driver is going to win. Soon. 1. Alex Palou (Last Week: 1) He is the champion of 2025. And 2024. And 2023. And 2021. Of course, the Ganassi driver is still No. 1. [Read more: Tuned To Perfection: Alex Palou's Latest INDYCAR Title One For History Books] Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Indianapolis Star
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
IndyCar paddock 'kinda sad' to be back at Iowa Speedway. Series tries to improve races since repave
DES MOINES, Iowa — 'You know me, and I try not to be negative, but …' That was Graham Rahal, IndyCar's serial optimist and most fervent supporter, as he began to envision what his next three days at Iowa Speedway were likely to be. The sigh, followed by a second or so pause and then the "but" hit like a stack of bricks as the series prepares to tackle two of the remaining seven rounds on the calendar in the span of 24 hours at a track that proved 18 months ago it's simply not the priority. Because the repave — well, partial repave — on the bottom lane in the turns before 2024, a decision made unilaterally to try and prop up the racing prospects of the NASCAR Cup series' debut at the track the sanctioning body has owned since 2013 but hadn't raced at until 2024, did nothing but set IndyCar's race-ability back four years or so, a waiting game it simply may not be able to afford. Two years ago, coincidentally in a doubleheader race weekend swept by Team Penske's Josef Newgarden — the King of Corn whose won five of seven races at Iowa from 2019 to 2023 — IndyCar put on a banger of a race weekend, action that elevated itself to the level of the A-list concerts that bookended the racing both days. IndyCar's 500 laps of action at the track that weekend hosted a combined 2,670 total on-track passes, 698 of those for position. Put simply: On a track where race-leader lap times hover around either side of 20 seconds or so, race fans could watch an average of more than five passes every lap, or more than 15 every minute. Every lap, on average, you'd see more than one pass that would lead to a shakeup in the leaderboard, too. Indeed, it marked a notably higher number of passing action that weekend — doubleheaders in 2022 (1,584 total on-track passes, 634 for position) and 2020 (1,103 total on-track passes, 408 for position) — but it continued a trend of what in recent years had increasingly become one of IndyCar's most action-packed tracks and must-watch TV, particularly when it slotted into a Saturday night window. Now, series officials have thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at this race weekend, hoping something will stick. With few exceptions, the more than dozen IndyCar drivers and team and series officials IndyStar spoke to for this story, enter this weekend in Newton, Iowa — one that some believe could (or should) mark the end of IndyCar's history, for now at least, at "the fastest short track on the planet" — are expecting little, if anything at all. 'I don't feel great about it. I feel like the track needs a complete repave if they want to get it back,' Rahal told IndyStar Thursday afternoon at the race weekend-opening luncheon. 'It's a shame, because it was a great track, and if they could repave the whole thing, it could be great again, but just one lane, and you create what you created.' Said Alexander Rossi earlier this month on his podcast, "Off Track with Hinch and Rossi": 'None of this is IndyCar's fault. None of it whatsoever is Firestone's fault. We just got absolutely bamboozled by another track repave, and it's really sad, because we all know what Iowa was, and it'll never get back to that.' If this is to be the end, IndyCar and its partners have made a point not to go out without a fight. Their punch of sorts comes with a wholesale package change compared to last year, including a different approach to tires, power levels and allowable downforce, in hopes of allowing for drivers to not only find some level of comfort running a second lane in the corners of the 0.875-mile where any passes that take place typically happen, but for running that second lane to be quick enough in comparison, even in select race conditions, to allow for the possibility of some passing. Because what the paving of that bottom lane at Iowa Speedway did for Indy cars there is this: Provided an almost indescribable level of grip on what already is the shortest distance way to travel around the track, allowing drivers to hug the white line painted on the bottom of the racing surface and slingshot around the track. Without similar grip levels on the next lane up — which remains the old, weathered, non-grippy surface of old — not only is someone running it having to travel a slightly longer distance around the track, they don't have the grip allowing them to keep their foot in the gas at near the same level. Combine that with tires that Firestone felt needed to be ultra-durable in order to handle the extreme speeds and loads experienced running the new grippy surface at pace, and IndyCar had only one lane viable to run and tires that almost didn't degrade at all. And so in the face of that, drivers and teams opted to aim to make just two pit stops, instead of the typical three or four, forcing them into fuel saves from the drop of the green flag. And so last year's doubleheader was filled with 500 laps of cars running at less than full bore, largely single file and in most cases unable to even get around cars that were prepared to be lapped. Combined across both races, IndyCar delivered just 396 combined passes, only 195 of those for position. 'It's the most boring thing I've ever done,' said three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou following his podium performance in Race No. 2. 'It's like putting a Moto GP race on dirt. (Iowa) is a cool track, but you cannot put it on the same and expect a very nice race.' Mid-Ohio viewership: Competition creates another IndyCar ratings dip as average audience again fails to reach 800K IndyCar since has significantly changed the way in which teams will produce downforce with their cars from the underwing to the rear wing. In theory, the series said in a bulletin this week, it should produce aerodynamic drag for a leading car and the potential for a trailing car to both follow more closely and, ideally, gain momentum to attempt a run around the outside for a pass. So as not to reach dangerously high speeds and load levels on the cars, engines will be set to lower boost levels (1.3 bar) than is typical for any races other than the Indianapolis 500, making for a package that last September at Nashville Superspeedway for the season finale was trial run with large amounts of success. In addition to this high-downforce, low-boost package that more than 20 cars across the 27-car field tested two weeks ago, Firestone has also provided a right front tire with the same compound but different construction from last year's race and the recent test in order to offer a tire capable of managing higher loads after Christian Rasmussen suffered a heavy crash at the test spurred by a right front tire failure. Other drivers in attendance at the test have told IndyStar more tire failures would've happened if not for keen attention to tire temps that began spiking on the right front not long after the test day got rolling. Weather permitting, IndyCar has also scheduled a 40-minute high-line session practice Friday afternoon where the field will be split into halves, which will run a pair of 10-minute practice sessions above the recently repaved section in order to lay down rubber, and therefore grip up, the higher lanes on the track — an action at other short tracks on the schedule has aided in developing multi-lane running in recent years. In a perfect world, paddock sources explained to IndyStar, a slightly weathered surface, a package that prioritizes the trailing car's building runs on cars ahead and an upper lane with at least some grip could allow for even marginal increases to available passing opportunities compared to 2024. IndyCar has also tacked on an additional 25 laps onto each race in hopes of taking the opportunity of a two-stop fuel-save strategy away. Initial reviews of the package by many drivers at the test earlier this summer were largely skeptical. 'At the test, we were trying all sorts of different stuff. We were trying everything we could — IndyCar, as well as the teams — to try and get a package that was going to be better, but I don't think we found it,' Palou said last weekend. 'It's just super easy to be consistent for 60 laps, where you're not 100% flat, but you're on the limit, so when you're behind somebody, you lose so much and the (lack of tire degradation) doesn't let you do a different strategy. 'It requires so much risk from us just to get a small chance, and normally you lose five spots whenever you try, so we all just stay (on the bottom lane). It doesn't look great.' Last year, veteran driver and IndyCar team co-owner Ed Carpenter said that running the second lane in even the best conditions would be roughly one second slower per lap than someone running the low line on similar tires and fuel. In previous iterations of the track without a high-grip lower lane, drivers hugging the bottom would have to lift while doing so, meaning running the higher lane and arcing through the turns might allow one to stay mostly (or even just more) flat on the gas through the turns, allowing someone to carry more speed and therefore have a better shot at executing a pass. And even then, often times notable sequences of passes in bunches wouldn't come (outside restarts) until tire life began to wane and a driver with newer tires could prove to be undoubtedly faster than one with significantly worn ones running the low line. The educated belief throughout the paddock is that creating tires that would produce notable wear could put the paddock at risk for tire failures from being exposed to the high-load levels of running on such a grippy surface. The Inside Line IndyCar podcast: Scott Dixon edges Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden and Team Penske reaction, more 'It's not that the repave is responsible for (Iowa) being one lane. What's responsible for it being one lane is that there's no tire deg, and there's no tire deg because of the repave,' Rossi told IndyStar. 'There would only be a second lane at 'old Iowa' when people started slowing down by eight-tenths (of a second) or even a second or two, but until then, the first lane would still be preferable. 'And then, when people started falling off a cliff, the second lane would open up cause you could get around them.' The reason such a package worked at Nashville, Rossi said, was that track lacked this uber-optimal lower lane, so the combination of the lower boost and the higher downforce that produced drag for a leading car did exactly what you'd want it to. But that grippy bottom lane has just led to cars nearly able to run flat through the shortest distance around the track — and then keep doing so for 60 laps or more doing little more than burning fuel and making the car lighter and keeping it virtually as fast aided by very little tire wear. Pato O'Ward, who won at Iowa in 2022 and who has finished on the podium in four of his last six starts at the track, has tested at Iowa Speedway twice since last year's race, including one trip for a Firestone tire-specific test with Andretti Global's Colton Herta, last fall. At that test, O'Ward told IndyStar Firestone brought a compound that he believed offered notable levels of degradation, albeit in conditions a bit dissimilar than a steamy July afternoon. Though others in the paddock have explained that racing high-deg tires on a super grippy surface could lead to ones that just can't reliably stand up to the loads they'd face over race-length stints, O'Ward remains irked at feeling as if he'd found a solution, only to seemingly be ignored by Firestone and IndyCar in the wake of last year's test. 'It was basically an alternate (tire), and it degged a lot, and that's what I said would produce the best racing,' O'Ward told IndyStar. '(Running that tire) was reminiscent of what 'old Iowa' was, and Firestone still decided to bring (a tire) that doesn't deg. What's the point of doing these Firestone tire tests if they're not going to listen to me? 'It's frustrating, knowing we definitely found a bit of a better tire. I feel like there was a bit of an answer, at least to make it better than it's been, and I just felt like it wasn't even acknowledged.' 'Hand him over to the world': How Pato O'Ward became IndyCar's biggest star Count Team Penske's Will Power, who won last year's second race of IndyCar's Iowa Speedway weekend, among those who continues to hold out legitimate hope for a better-than-expected race weekend. The two-time series champ spoke of running a half stint at last month's test and already beginning to feel some deg, something he believes to have been brought on by a surface that experienced notable wear during Iowa's harsh winter and freeze-thaw spring cycles. Whereas some are hoping Iowa Speedway officials might consider repaving the entire track, Power doesn't want it touched any more. 'Let it all weather,' he told IndyStar. 'Unless you can resurface it all and falsely age it. 'Yes, the resurfacing is a real pity, but it's already starting to come back, and it's only going to keep getting closer to what we used to have.' Others have characterized the state of Iowa Speedway in a similar vein to Texas Motor Speedway, circa 2021, the 1.5-mile track just outside Dallas that in 2019 saw NASCAR apply a traction compound called PJ1 to help NASCAR Cup cars find grip to allow for multiple lanes of racing not long after the track had undergone a wholesale reprofiling. The compound made areas it had been applied, largely the outer lane or two in the corners, feel as if a driver was trundling along on black ice, and its lingering presence made for single-lane processional races in both 2020 and 2021. But by 2022, things began to shift and, in 2023, IndyCar produced maybe its best non-500 oval race in a decade. Though TMS, of course, is no longer on IndyCar's schedule, finding the lowly attended IndyCar oval race replaced with a soon-to-debut street race next year in Arlington, the message of preaching patience is not lost on some in the paddock who still believe Iowa Speedway can be what it once was and that Saturday and Sunday are bound to offer better wheel-to-wheel action. 'You could have iRacing work on it in the offseason for the (tire) grip levels and the downforce (package) if they could get the right aero data from IndyCar and power levels and all that stuff,' Power said. 'If you really wanted to get it right, you'd start playing around with that stuff.' Such a willingness and dedication to the show was pursued, admittedly almost to the paddock's detriment, a year ago, when after IndyCar's lackluster Race 1, series officials addressed team leaders — everyone utterly puzzled on what to do next. Though some question the extremes to which IndyCar has made last-minute changes to the downforce package and tires on race week for this year's Iowa weekend, series officials briefly brainstormed a year ago as to how to productively change the package overnight in hopes of not delivering a second dud in 24 hours. That same dedication returns to Iowa Speedway this year, having had 12 months to dream up a solution. How much of one it may be, though, is anyone's guess. 'I'm kinda sad, man,' said six-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon this week on Conor Daly's "Speed Street" podcast. 'I used to love that race. It was so fun. You could feel like a complete idiot, and you'd come put new tires on, and then you'd feel like King Kong. 'It was so much fun passing five cars a lap.'
Forbes
26-06-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
IndyCar Legend Bobby Rahal Will Be Honored At Mid-Ohio IndyCar Race
Driver Bobby Rahal when he was honored before the 1998 CART Miller Lite 200 at Mid-Ohio with his ... More family, including young Graham Rahal (blue shirt in the middle). He will be honored once again on Sunday, July 6, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Robert Laberge /Allsport One of the legendary names in racing history at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Bobby Rahal, will be honored at the July 6 Honda Indy 500 at Mid-Ohio on the 40th anniversary of his first win at the historic track. Rahal is the 1985 and 1986 IndyCar race winner at the legendary Ohio track and will serve as the honorary grand marshal of The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport on Sunday, July 6. As grand marshal, Rahal will announce the most famous words in racing, "Drivers, start your engines" as well as participate in pre-race ceremonies for the 90-lap NTT IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio. The race will broadcast globally with live coverage nationally starting at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FOX. Rahal's Ohio Roots Rahal was born in Medina, Ohio, and later a Dublin, Ohio, then New Albany, Ohio resident, Rahal's connection to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course runs deep and is long-standing. In addition to his two IndyCar wins at the track, the three-time IndyCar Series champion finished on the podium a remarkable eight of his 16 career starts on his home circuit including in his last two races in 1997 and 1998. Rahal has also won at Mid-Ohio as a team owner in 2015 with his son Graham Rahal taking the checkered flag at The Honda Indy 200 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing shop was once located in nearby Hilliard, Ohio in the same building which formerly housed Truesports Racing. Rahal drove for Truesports when entering the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series in 1982 and won the Indianapolis 500 with the Jim Trueman-owned team in 1986. The multiple motorsports hall of fame inductee is in a very select group of individuals who have won the Indianapolis 500 both as a driver and as an owner/entrant (2004 and 2020 as an owner). 'It's a great honor to be the grand marshal for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Mid-Ohio played an important role in my personal and professional life," Rahal said. "I went to the first ever race there with my father in 1962 and made annual trips there after that, sometimes twice a year. 'I got my first win at Mid-Ohio in my SCCA class in 1974, won both IROC races I competed in there, won the Lumberman's race and of course the two INDYCAR races in 1985 and 1986.' But Rahal's connection with Mid-Ohio was deeper at personal. The owner of Mid-Ohio was Jim Trueman, who was also Rahal's team owner. 'Being by (Jim) Trueman's side when he bought the track in 1980 and winning the IMSA race with him in 1983 as well as winning the IndyCar races there and seeing Graham win there in 2015 are some of my greatest memories at one of my favorite tracks,' Rahal said. 'It was a privilege to drive on such a great circuit all those years.' Bobby Rahal in 1982. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images) Additionally, Jun Jayaraman, senior vice president, Manufacturing Management Center of Honda Development & Manufacturing of America (HDMA), will be this year's honorary starter, waving the green flag to start the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race. Paul Dentinger, senior vice president, Purchasing & Supply Chain Center of HDMA, will be the trophy presenter to the podium finishers for post-race ceremonies. 'We are honored to celebrate Bobby Rahal's many racing accomplishments and his tremendous legacy at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by naming him this year's grand marshal. He's a true motorsports icon from the Buckeye State,' said Craig Rust, president of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. 'Thank you to Paul Dentinger and Jun Jayaraman for also joining us to serve in these honorary positions. Mr. Jayaraman, Mr. Dentinger and the thousands of associates from the nearby manufacturing and R&D facilities joining us next weekend will make this another memorable Honda gathering.' The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport on July 4-6 marks the 42nd running of Ohio's biggest racing event. The NTT IndyCar Series headlines the weekend of nine races across five different racing series. The full development ladder of the sport's rising stars will be on display with INDY NXT by Firestone, USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire, USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire and USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire all competing on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. The event will also feature its annual off-track Fourth of July celebrations. On Saturday, July 5, campers are encouraged to decorate their sites in red, white and blue as part of the Camping with Honda tradition. Honda-powered NTT IndyCar Series drivers will begin to tour the campsites in the late afternoon after the IndyCar qualifying session, followed by a fireworks display just after dusk. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a comprehensive motorsports facility in Lexington, Ohio, that includes 380 acres and features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary race track configurations: 2.4-mile, 15-turn or 2.258-mile, 13-turn layout. It is located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield. The natural terrain road course is commonly referred to as the 'Most Competitive in the U.S.' and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned race events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders. It is also home to The Mid-Ohio School, featuring over 20 driving and riding courses, for teenagers to professional racers using Honda vehicles. Opened in 1962, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC since 2011, just the raceway's third private ownership group in its history. And Bobby Rahal will have reason to celebrate with his latest honor at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Graham Rahal in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Indy car during the Honda Indy 200 on July 3, 2022 at ... More the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Photo by Graham Stokes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Forbes
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
FOX Believes IndyCar Is Ready For Prime Time At Gateway Sunday Night
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)
Fox Sports
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Graham Rahal Reflective, Still Hungry as Milestone Approaches This Weekend
INDYCAR Graham Rahal reaches his 300th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday, June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The start in the 260-lap race airing at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network places Rahal in an exclusive group of drivers. Rahal joins Scott Dixon, who will make his record-extending 410th INDYCAR SERIES start, Mario Andretti (407), Helio Castroneves (395), Tony Kanaan (390), A.J. Foyt (369), Al Unser Jr. (329), Al Unser (320), Michael Andretti (317), Johnny Rutherford (315) and Will Power (310) as drivers reaching the triple-century mark. His dad, Bobby Rahal, made 264 career starts. Rahal's commitment is also reflected in a streak of consecutive starts. He hasn't missed a race since July 25, 2010, at Edmonton. Rahal will tie Marco Andretti for third-most consecutive starts with 249 in the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on June 22. Only Dixon's 346 and counting, and Kanaan's 318 are more. Success is measured in many different ways, and when you look at wins, maybe it's not enough, but I've been fortunate to have a long career here,' Rahal said. 'But hopefully there's still a ways to go. 'Three hundred races, I think what I'm most fortunate about is to have been able to stay, knock on wood, pretty healthy through those times, and hopefully that will continue, as well.' Rahal is acutely aware he hasn't matched the resume of his father, Bobby, who won the 1986 Indy 500 among his 24 career victories and three championships. With six career wins and nearly 50 percent of his 299 starts ending in top-10 finishes (146), Rahal admits he wishes his trophy case was fuller. But he also understands and respects what he's achieved. 'There are a lot of people who come to this sport, have extended careers and never have that sort of success,' he said. 'But I'm not oblivious to the fact that I wish I had a lot, lot more. But I feel that in some ways, too, I've been through a lot in this sport. I've been to a lot of different teams. I've been through good years. I've been through years where we've really, really struggled. 'What I've been most proud of is being able to find our way out of those holes.' A recent example is 2014, when he finished 19th in points with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He bounced back in 2015 with the same team, breaking a 123-race winless streak with wins at Auto Club Speedway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and finishing fourth in the standings. Rahal is winless in his last 134 starts, dating back to the June 2017 doubleheader sweep at Belle Isle Park. He also entered this season after an 18th-place points finish last year. He has climbed to 15th in points after seven races – a modest position, but with indicators that things are heading the right way. A late-season surge is possible. Early on, Rahal's strength came in race pace more than qualifying. He climbed nine spots in the Firestone Grand Prix St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding to finish 12th in the season opener. He gained seven spots at The Thermal Club, finishing 11th. At Barber Motorsports Park, he started 21st and finished 14th. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13 was the lone race day setback. He started 16th but finished 22nd. Rahal's average starting position in the first four races was 19th. But in the next three, that's improved dramatically to 9.3. That's a tangible result of the team finding direction. He qualified an impressive second in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He led a race-high 49 laps May 10 in that race but finished sixth. Two races later in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, Rahal qualified fifth, but a six-spot grid penalty dropped him to 11th in the starting lineup. With better qualifying form, consistent race pace and a tight-knit team, Rahal looks more poised than he has in years to end his win drought. 'I've said this since Sebring (preseason) test that I love working with (engineer) Yves (Touron),' Rahal said. 'I love working with (engineers) Tim (Trowbridge) and Grant (George), (race strategist) Tisch (Akulich) on the stand, all the mechanics who are pretty young, several new guys, I'm really enjoying this group of guys.' recommended
