St. Pete IndyCar rating matches 2025 debut on FOX

On the anniversary of airing its first IndyCar race, FOX’s return to St. Petersburg produced the same average audience as its debut, with 1.4 million viewers watching Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou repeat as winner of the Firestone Grand Prix.

Nielsen Research also reported the race achieved a peak audience of 1.6 million viewers towards the finish from 2:15-2:25pm.

The flat ratings report comes after an encouraging debut as IndyCar’s broadcaster and co-owner in 2025, and recent efforts to expand FOX’s promotional efforts for the series by featuring four original commercials using Palou, two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, IndyCar’s most popular driver Pato O’Ward, and a new spot with veteran and two-time champion Will Power.

Last year, the encouraging 45-percent lift in audience at St. Petersburg over what NBC produced in 2024 was met with great enthusiasm. The second race on the schedule, which took place three weeks later, at The Thermal Club tempered that enthusiasm when a 50.3-percent drop in audience was registered with 704,000 average viewers.

This Saturday’s Good Rancher’s 250– part of FOX’s big weekend of NASCAR and IndyCar coverage from Phoenix Raceway – will provide important data for the series and its teams as fans won’t have to wait an extended period for the racing to resume as IndyCar embarks on three straight weekend of action to open its season.