The US viewership landscape has been a battlefield for decades. In motorsports, three major racing entities engage in this battleground: NASCAR, F1, and IndyCar. F1 is majorly based outside, although its ratings in the US have increased by 106% since 2018. Probably, thanks to Drive to Survive on Netflix. Meanwhile, the main competition is between NASCAR and IndyCar. However, Roger Penske is intent on tilting the favor to one side.

The Team Penske owner has already established himself as a dominator. In 2024, Joey Logano delivered the third consecutive Cup Series championship to Penske, even with tremendous odds stacked against him. Penske also owns IndyCar, and his reign will not stop, as a new F1 recruit recently revealed.

Roger Penske is on a mission to conquer

Apparently, Michael Jordan and Co. are not the only ones wishing to topple NASCAR’s monopolistic nature. Roger Penske purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series from Hulman and Co. in 2019 and has pioneered several milestones. According to a 2022 report, Penske spent over $30 Million upgrading the “World’s Greatest Race Course.” He also believed in keeping IndyCar abreast with the latest hybrid technology, to avoid falling back in the automotive industry. Now, IndyCar has roped in a long-time Formula 1 broadcaster and the voice of ‘Drive to Survive’, William Buxton.

Buxton has spent two decades following F1 around the globe, Buxton turned over a new leaf for the start of the 2025 season. Now he will take up his new role in Fox’s IndyCar coverage. And he is dropping sizzling hints about Roger Penske‘s series aiming to topple NASCAR. IndyCar has always paled in comparison to its stock car racing neighbor – but Fox is acting to change it.

Buxton said, “There’s no reason why IndyCar shouldn’t be the most popular form of motorsport here, and that means making it bigger than NASCAR. Will that take time? Absolutely. But that’s why they’ve assembled the group that they have.”

The evidence also supports this advancing trend for IndyCar. Throughout the off-season, Fox has used NFL games or college football programs to promote Roger Penske’s series. A spicy innovation was a commercial featuring Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, and even NFL megastar Tom Brady.

That prompted many drivers to drop commendations for Fox’s work for IndyCar, including Mexican speedster Pato O’Ward. “I think what Fox and IndyCar are doing is freaking phenomenal.. The commercial that just came out with Josef, I think, was so well done. It’s fun. It’s edgy. It’s flirting with that line where people do get engaged and you’re like, ‘hey, this is different’.”

Ironically, William Buxton was motivated largely because of someone involved in both IndyCar and NASCAR.

Pushing to break down boundaries

Well, Leigh Diffey has tried his hand in several avenues. He became the play-by-play commentator for nearly every major motorsport series, including NASCAR, Formula One, IMSA, Supercross, and MotoGP. He was also NBC Sports’ lead INDYCAR commentator for more than a decade, including all six of NBC Sports’ Indianapolis 500 broadcasts. During the August 2024 NASCAR Cup Series race in Daytona, he garnered attention for calling Harrison Burton’s victory. However, by advising his F1 contemporary William Buxton about his career choice, his finger fell upon IndyCar.

William Buxton confessed Diffey played a huge role in persuading him to join Roger Penske’s fold. He said that Diffey is “somebody that I’ve worked with for many years through the NBC days. We are very, very good friends. I just said to him: ‘a) should I do it? And b) do you think I can do a good job?’”

He continued, “Leigh was incredibly positive, and he’s always been a huge supporter of mine. He’s like a big brother to me, and a tremendous guide and a mentor for me. His faith that I could do it, and that he was also happy for me to do it, was a huge factor in me accepting it.”

Evidently, Roger Penske has set his sights on soaring goals for IndyCar. As we swing into the 2025 season, let us see how the open-wheel racing series kicks off.