“Fake News Network” Call by Tony Stewart’s Rival Washed Away as Roger Penske’s $300M Gamble Benefits No One

The pursuit of speed has always been a focal point in the world of motosports. No one symbolises this pursuit more than drag racing, and NHRA is the pinnacle of that. Take a straight stretch of road and go as fast as possible! And that is what Bob Tasca, Tony Stewart’s long-standing rival, did back in 2024 when he made the unofficial record as the ‘Fastest Ford Man on Earth’ when he achieved the speed of 341.68 miles per hour in his PPG Mustang Dark Horse Nitro Funny Car. 

“Today’s record is the result of years of passion, teamwork, and the relentless chase for speed…Their support and Ford’s aerodynamic and engineering expertise were crucial in breaking the 340 mph barrier, a dream I’ve always had,” Tasca said after his record-setting run. And when he heard FOX declare IndyCar as the fastest motorsport in the world, he did not hold back.

The Viewership Battle: FOX and IndyCAR vs NASCAR

“I gotta call out FOX Sports. You know all winter long, we heard about the fastest motorsports on the planet… The truth is, it’s an insult to our fans and to the drivers for FOX to go on TV and say the fastest motorsports in the world, and it’s IndyCar? Come on now! I didn’t think it was fake news network on FOX,” he snapped, leaving everyone stunned. Bob Tasca called out FOX for claiming IndyCar is “the fastest motorsport” in their preseason ads, saying it disrespects NHRA drag racing fans and drivers. 

According to NASCAR reporter and insider Jeff Gluck, Roger Penske has made an exclusive deal with FOX to put IndyCar on the main channel and put NASCAR on FS1 despite their long-time deal between NASCAR and FOX. “IndyCar went with Fox in part due to the promise of getting every race on Fox. They don’t have any races on FS1 or streaming. All on Fox. But they get less money for it ($25 mil/yr). NASCAR gets paid more to boost FS1, which helps keep carriage fees high on cable/satellite,” said Gluck, explaining the new deal between FOX and Roger Penske’s IndyCar.

When FOX decided to air both NASCAR and IndyCar, it was lauded as a masterstroke that would help increase the viewership of both sports. However, as is the case many times, reality often doesn’t fit well with expectations. And that’s what happened last week with the NASCAR races at Homestead and the Thermal Club IndyCar race. The Cup Series race at Homestead racked up 2.464 million viewers on FS1, while IndyCar only managed to get 704,000 viewers on FOX, which is a 50% drop in viewers since the season opener at St. Petersburg.

The supposed plan of FOX to synergize both sports by broadcasting both sports head-to-head led to decreased viewership ratings for IndyCar compared to NASCAR, and the technical problems during the IndyCar broadcast did not help IndyCar’s case at all.

“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,” tweeted the official channel of NASCAR on FOX.

However, even after Tasca claimed NHRA superiority over IndyCar in his explosive way, NHRA did not manage to beat IndyCar in viewership, with only 669,000 viewers on FS1. These numbers clearly tell the story that FOX’s masterstroke to revive all the sports with this head-to-head strategy has failed, and it is hurting all three of the sports instead of helping them. While Roger Penske’s IndyCar is in trouble with the slump in viewership, his NASCAR branch is also not doing so well.

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Roger Penske’s NASCAR Troubles

After winning last year’s championship, Team Penske was hoping to carry on their momentum coming into the 2025 season. But they haven’t had the start they wished, with none of their 3 drivers having a solid performance so far this season.

Reigning champion Joey Logano has led the most laps this season but has been unable to finish in the top-10 even once so far this season, with his best result being the 12th-place finish at Atlanta.

“Frustrating is the one word that comes to mind…I think I’ve left the race track every single weekend, mad at something. That’s part of racing sometimes,” said Logano when talking about his 2025 season so far. With a string of bad luck, getting stuck in cautions or wrecks, or having pit stop mishaps, Logano hasn’t had the start to the season that he and his team had hoped for.

The same is true for the other two Team Penske drivers as well. Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney have been unable to deliver any solid results so far this season, with Blaney having three DNFs in the last 3 races and Cindric having only 2 top-10 performances so far this season. With none of Penske’s drivers able to perform and give any solid result so far, questions have begun to be asked: Is Penske’s dominance in NASCAR finally at its end?