Disgraced FOX Forced to Turn to NASCAR for Saving Face After Massive IndyCar Bias Backfires

FOX Sports made a bold bet on IndyCar in 2025. After securing the exclusive broadcast rights, the network pushed a massive promotional campaign to revive the struggling series. From cinematic commercials to controversial claims, they did everything to promote the Roger Penske-owned series. FOX even promoted IndyCar as “the fastest motorsport on the planet,” a claim that enraged drag racing enthusiasts.

NASCAR legend turned NHRA driver Tony Stewart openly called them out. “I love FOX, but they’re doing some false advertising. IndyCar is not the fastest—by 100 miles an hour,” Stewart said. Notably, NHRA drivers regularly hit over 330 mph, while IndyCar’s all-time fastest lap is just 237.498 mph. But FOX didn’t step back and doubled down their claim with a new advertisement. The message was clear: IndyCar was FOX’s new golden child.

However, as everything looked good for IndyCar a disaster struck. During the highly anticipated Thermal Club Grand Prix, FOX’s IndyCar broadcast went dark due to an unwanted issue. This triggered another backlash for FOX and this time it was from none other IndyCar fans. But what exactly went wrong?

FOX’s big gamble on IndyCar backfires!

The Thermal Club Grand Prix was a crucial event for IndyCar’s new era under FOX. It was the second race of the season and the first points-paying event at the prestigious California track. IndyCar had promoted the race as a marquee event, and FOX had built up anticipation with non-stop advertising. Reigning champion Alex Palou and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward were leading the storylines, and fans were eager to see how the battle would unfold.

But a few minutes after the green flag the FOX broadcast suddenly cut out. In a scramble to fill airtime, FOX switched to its NASCAR broadcast at Homestead-Miami. The fans and experts alike were shocked as this mid-race incident caught them off-guard. However, FOX soon reported the issue and cited that they had an electrical failure in their production truck.

The network released a statement: “Our INDYCAR production truck has an electrical issue. We are working to get it fixed as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we have NASCAR bonus coverage on FOX and FS1 until the INDYCAR truck is back online.” However, fans were outraged. Many questioned how FOX could allow such a critical failure to happen during a major event. After months of trying to elevate IndyCar, FOX had fumbled in the worst possible way.

The timing of the broadcast disaster couldn’t have been worse for FOX. The network had invested everything in pre-season marketing, positioning IndyCar as the sport to watch. They had produced cinematic commercials, revamped the pre-race shows, and brought in top-tier analysts like Bob Pockrass from NASCAR to boost credibility. Even their programming strategy revolved around pairing IndyCar and NASCAR together to create crossover interest.

Earlier this year, FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks had said that they want to have more double headers with NASCAR to attract audiences to IndyCar. “We’re going to have IndyCar and NASCAR races on the same day several more times. There was only so much we could do with the schedule within the timeframe that we got the rights in the summer. In future years, you’re going to see even more of it,” he had said.

His words were on display today when IndyCar and NASCAR dropped their green flags with just 10 minutes of gap. The broadcasting team faced backlash for it. However, NASCAR, which FOX had sidelined, had to bail them out today when a disaster struck. Notably, few minutes after the incident FOX Sports managed to get IndyCar production back. But for IndyCar fans damage was done.

Notably, this is not the first time that live IndyCar race coverage has seen a fallout. In 2024, NBC faced a brief broadcast outage during its coverage of the Indianapolis 500 due to severe weather. Powerful storms and tornadoes disrupted the signal, causing a temporary loss of coverage just before the race began. However, NBC quickly restored the feed, ensuring that viewers didn’t miss any on-track action. The network explained in a statement that the weather caused the issue and made it unavoidable.

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How is FOX prioritizing Roger Penske’s series?

From the start of the 2025 season, Fox’s bias towards IndyCar has been on display. Fox has relegated NASCAR, its most-watched motorsport property, to FS1 more frequently while giving IndyCar prime-time treatment. The difference in coverage is staggering. Fox spent the offseason producing Hollywood-style commercials for IndyCar, even airing them during the Daytona 500 and Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, NASCAR, despite being the bigger draw, didn’t get the same promotional push. FOX used IndyCar drivers as brand ambassadors but noticeably left out NASCAR’s stars from major network campaigns. Notably, FOX moved nine out of 14 NASCAR races to its cable brand FS1, while it promised to air all 17 IndyCar races on the main channel. The shift in priorities has also impacted NASCAR’s viewership.

This year’s Cup Series race at Phoenix drew 2.82 million viewers on FS1. While that’s solid, it pales in comparison to last year’s 4.02 million when the race was on Fox’s main channel. And it’s not just about marketing. IndyCar’s presentation received immediate improvements after fan complaints about graphics and headshots. Meanwhile, NASCAR fans have been noticing multiple broadcast mishaps including commercial breaks hiding key incidents. For now, FOX’s priorities are clear but missing on NASCAR might create a new controversy.