Roger Penske is not having a good time, is he? Despite his IndyCar series succeeding, Team Penske is facing blow after blow, and the most recent one came at the Indy 500 qualifying. Josef Newgarden and Will Power were disqualified for tampering with their rear attenuators. The scandal cost three key team members their jobs and dropped Newgarden and Power to the back of the grid. But just when things looked bleak, a former NASCAR team owner, who once had Kyle Larson behind the wheel of his cars, stepped up to throw Penske a lifeline with some straight talk about IndyCar’s future.
This isn’t just about saving face; it’s about saving a sport that’s struggling to keep its fans hooked. IndyCar’s new TV deal with FOX Sports is a big win, but the ratings are a mixed bag, and the paddock’s still buzzing with controversy. With the Indy 500 kicking off this Sunday. Penske needs all the support he can get to steer through this mess.
The man stepping up for Roger Penske is none other than Chip Ganassi, the former NASCAR team owner who ran Chip Ganassi Racing. Despite selling his NASCAR team, Ganassi is going strong in IndyCar, and when he talked to Kevin Harvick, Ganassi had some advice for Penske to maximise viewership. “I think it’s just basically having some key events that are big. Look, we obviously have the Indianapolis 500, much like NASCAR has the Daytona 500… We need other creative events like Daytona, like Indianapolis, to make motorsports bigger. That’s our Super-Bowl, and it’s true in a sense, I think the Super-Bowl sometimes is the Daytona 500 of football or the Indianapolis 500 of football but having said that, I think that to make these sports bigger, we need to key on a couple of events and make them larger events. We need other creative events like Daytona, like Indianapolis, to make motorsports bigger.”
Ganassi’s got a point—IndyCar’s TV ratings need a boost to match the sport’s potential. Last season, NASCAR averaged 5.95 million viewers per race on FOX, while IndyCar’s 2024 Indy 500 pulled in 5.34 million, a solid number but down 8% from 2023’s 5.79 million. This year’s May has been a letdown, with the Long Beach Grand Prix averaging just 1.6 million viewers, a 15% drop from last year, despite the new FOX deal.
Ganassi’s vision is clear: IndyCar needs to create more “Super Bowl” moments beyond Indy, events that pack the stands and keep viewers glued to their screens. Look at what NASCAR has done with its events this year, and we’re not talking about Daytona. The Clash at Bowman Gray and the All-Star Race were massive spectacles, taking the sport back to its roots and giving fans what they wanted.
“Whether it’s the Long Beach Grand Prix or now we’re going next year, next spring to Ardington, Texas. We have Toronto that is a great event. We have some great events in the upper Midwest at Elkart Lake and in Wisconsin, they’re well-attended, big events annually on the calendar of these local areas, and I think the next growth area is just taking some of these other events and bringing them up to the level of Indianapolis,” he added.
What Ganassi means, is that Penske can capitalise on events like the Long Beach Grand Prix and the race in Toronto. If we see the numbers, these were some of the lower viewership counts in 2024. Long Beach was at 307,000 viewers while Toronto had a measly 50k. If IndyCar manages to turn these events into major spectacles, much like the All-Star race in NASCAR this year, which had 2.573 million viewers, Ganassi’s words might actually ring true.
And to their credit, IndyCar has already put plans in place. Last year, when FOX joined their broadcasting department, it was a sign of major things to come. Roger Penske revealed this when he said, “I’ve never seen a partner that has weighed in the way FOX has to support the partnership. We’re up approximately 25 percent [through four races] over where we were before with the past relationship. But what’s most important is that this 18-to-34 age group has been up almost 60 percent, which is key.”
If Penske can combine the showmanship with FOX’s deal, who knows what can happen? For now, let’s see what the Indy 500 has in store for us.
Racers to Watch at the Indy 500: Can Larson, O’Ward, or Newgarden Steal the Show?
With the controversy still simmering, all eyes are on the Indy 500 grid this Sunday, and there are some heavy hitters ready to make a statement. Kyle Larson, who’s pulling double duty with the Coca-Cola 600 later that day, is a top contender despite starting 21st after a practice crash last week. He’s got the Hendrick Motorsports-Arrow McLaren partnership behind him, and after leading 20 laps in last year’s Indy 500 before a pit-road penalty derailed him, Larson’s hungry for redemption.
Then there’s Pato O’Ward, who’s starting on the front row for Arrow McLaren. O’Ward led 39 laps in 2023 and nearly won in 2022, making him a fan favorite to finally seal the deal—he’s got the speed and the guts to make it happen.
Don’t count out Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, either, even after the qualifying mess dropped him to 32nd. The defending Indy 500 champ has won back-to-back in 2023 and 2024, and he’s led 162 laps across those races, showing he knows how to carve through the field. With a chip on his shoulder and Penske’s honor on the line, Newgarden’s got everything to prove.
Will Power, also starting at the back in 33rd, is another wildcard—he’s a former Indy 500 winner (2018) and led 56 laps that year, so he’s no stranger to the Brickyard’s pressure. The Indy 500’s shaping up to be a battle of redemption, raw talent, and revenge—Penske’s empire might be bruised, but these drivers are ready to fight for glory and maybe, just maybe, turn the narrative around.
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