The good: The 2025 Indianapolis 500 had an average viewership on Fox Sports of 7.05 million on May 25.
That was the highest television ratings for the event since 2008 and up from 5.02 million in 2024, the last time NBC televised the race.
It was also better that the almost 6.8 million viewers for the Daytona 500 in February, NASCAR’s biggest race, also televised by Fox.
Since the mid-1990s, NASCAR has dominated IndyCar racing in the United States. In the 1990s, IndyCar was split between competing series. NASCAR zoomed by.
This year, on television at least, IndyCar took the lead.
The bad: The Indy 500 had some embarrassments. Two cars owned by Penske, who also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series, were forced to start from the back of the race. That was because of a cheating scandal.
On top of that, Marcus Ericsson, who finished second in the Indy 500, was penalized for a rules violation and officially came in 31st out of 33 cars.
For Roger Penske, 88, it was at best a mixed bag.
Penske has used racing to promote his transportation businesses. He’s won a lot at the Indianapolis 500 races as a team owner (20, actually) and has also been a winner in NASCAR.
Penske promotes a winning image, with professionalism and preparation. He owns major auto dealerships and a truck rental business.
But this year, he fired three leading members of his IndyCar racing teams after the Indianapolis racing scandal. Professionalism and preparation seemed to be a thing of the past.
The businessman, in a Fox Sports interview with Jamie Little, said changes may take place in IndyCar, such as a more independent body to oversee the Indy series.
That remains to be seen. The IndyCar series this week moves on from Indy to a Detroit event.
For now, the Indianapolis 500 is, more or less, at a high.
IndyCar faces other issues. Does the series have a succession plan? Nobody outside of the series, or Penske, really knows.
One addition for IndyCar in 2026 is the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington, where Penske is joining forces with Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, 82.
Then again, Penske has gotten used to working with aging business moguls. Fox Sports is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, 94.
