Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske is featured in the first of FOX Sports IndyCar promotional videos, that aired during the January 17 NFL Divisional Playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
FOX Sports Photo
During the National Football League Divisional Playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, FOX Sports unveiled the first of its four IndyCar promotional videos for the 2026 season during the telecast. The video was called “Perfect Neighbor” and featured two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske, a creative aspect of IndyCar on FOX
It’s the second year FOX has produced highly creative promotional videos featuring IndyCar’s biggest names to promote the network’s coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series. Last year’s promotional campaign was hailed for its creativity and featured Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren and Newgarden. Those three drivers return to the campaign in 2026 along with a new driver, two-time IndyCar Series Champion and 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power, now with Andretti Global.
IndyCar On Fox Delivered Impressive Growth
FOX’s heavy promotion of IndyCar was a major reason why the ratings for the racing series made impressive improvement in 2025. FOX intends to continue that momentum in 2026.
FOX Sports inaugural NTT IndyCar Series season produced the largest viewership growth of any series, according to ratings data provided by FOX Sports.
The average viewers on FOX/FS1 were 1.36 million, a 27-percent increase from 2024 and the most since the 2008 season when teams from Champ Car merged with the Indy Racing League to form today’s IndyCar Series. The 27-percent increase was the most audience growth for any sport averaging at least 1 million viewers.
Most importantly was the connection to a coveted group of viewer demographics. There was a massive lift in the P18-34 and P18-49 demographics. The age group between 18-34 was an 81 percent increase and the 18-49 demographic was a 51-percent increase. The season also saw an increase in women viewers, with W18-34 increasing by 72 percent.
The four IndyCar drivers that are involved in this year’s campaign will be used during commercial breaks in programming on FOX sports and entertainment telecasts through 2026.
This year’s campaign was created by FOX Sports President, Marketing Robert Gottlieb and his team.
IndyCar On FOX Creativity A Year-Round Effort
Pam Miller is IndyCar Producer at FOX Sports. Although the final race of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season was the August 31 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway, Miller and her team at FOX Sports have not hit the brakes on preparation for 2026.
“It never stops,” Miller told me. “I don’t think I’ve really taken more than a couple days after Nashville and then just dove right back in.
“It was a graduate school course last year. We learned a lot. We got to know people. We got to know how things work. What things we think we could try to help improve, whether it’s data or graphic development or, like I said, camera placement. There were a lot of things we had to live once before we knew. Maybe the camera should be more on the inside of this turn versus on the outside, and all that type of stuff is what we’ve gathered all this information and kept notes through the year, and now we’re trying to implement that to make things better.
“But we are way farther ahead than where we were a year ago sitting here. It’s been a great experience, but it’s also been a huge learning curve, so we’re just trying to take those lessons and see how we can apply them.”
FOX Corporation An Ownership Partner In IndyCar
In 2024, FOX became a partner of IndyCar, but in 2025, FOX Corporation became a stakeholder in IndyCar by purchasing one-third ownership in IndyCar.
That alignment creates cohesiveness and cooperation between FOX Sports and IndyCar regarding in start times for races, scheduling, venues, and other aspects of the series. FOX has a seat at the table when it comes to IndyCar business.
“I think you nailed it,” Miller said. “Working together to find the best spots, the best time, the time that’s going to have the most impact.
“Putting a race on after the World Cup final where are those spots that we can do that how can we introduce new fans I think that’s all part of the partnership, how we all work together to get people to know be aware when to tune in. I’ve already seen it working great and I can’t imagine that it’s not only going to get better I think There’s a lot of really great visionary people at the table that are all working together to bring more people into, but the racing viewership also that we all know that they’re going to enjoy.
“So, I think putting everybody at the table to work together has been a great thing.”
Josef Newgarden holding a heart from the FOX Sports “Perfect Neighbor” video as part of its IndyCar on FOX promotional campaign.
FOX Sports Photo
IndyCar On FOX Sports Katie Weigel’s Creative Eye
Just a few weeks after the 2025 season concluded, FOX Sports Feature Producer Katie Weigel and a staff or camera operators and technical personnel were in Tryon, North Carolina preparing a feature on the Borg-Warner Trophy and sculptor William Behrends.
Weigel uses her creativity to produce IndyCar features that will be used throughout the 2026 season.
FOX Feature Producer Katie Weigel (left) with four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion Alex Palou (right).
Bruce Martin Photo
“Even before that (FOX’s ownership stake with IndyCar0 was announced this past season, it being the first one, I am so thankful to have been a part of it,” Weigel told me. “Everything that we got to do from where our stages were, the access we got, our shoots, everything was so cool to just take in.
“And I think even moving forward, we’re just kind of building off of that excitement and that high that we had from that, that truly it is only going to go up from here.”
While many viewers are thinking of football and the NFL Playoffs, FOX continues to expose IndyCar to the audience, through its creative promotional videos that dropped during the third quarter of the 49ers-Seahawks game.
When it comes to creativity, IndyCar on FOX is a year-round effort.
Josef Newgarden in a scene from the “Perfect Neighbor” video from FOX Sports.
FOX Sports Photo
