For the first time in over 22 years, a Japanese rider won a MotoGP race as Ai Ogura won the Dutch TT ahead of Trackhouse teammate and sprint race winner Raúl Fernández. Marco Bezzecchi took a spill, and Jorge Martín took the championship lead. There were some endurance races. Some calendars were released. Circuit of the Americas is getting more races. I guess yellow flags are not that important for safety. That's fine. Don't throw stones at race cars. NASCAR's in-season tournament began! However, there was news at the start of the week that I think we should discuss and look at closer.
Why Do We Want to be Lied To?
In the aftermath of IndyCar's trip to Road America, there was some celebration. It wasn't because of the race and the thrilling finish that saw Christian Lundgaard take advantage of misfortune Marcus Armstrong suffered. It was down to viewership, and the numbers were good.
Road America had 1.803 million viewers, a significant increase from last year's race, which only drew 781,000. It was the most watched non-Indianapolis 500 race for IndyCar since the 2011 season opener from St. Petersburg. Through the first ten races, ratings this year is are up 14%.
There should be a semi-critical lens though.
This race benefitted from a World Cup lead-in. Spain played Saudi Arabia at noon, leading right into the IndyCar broadcast. The peak viewership number was 2.943 million viewers. That was between 2:29 p.m. ET and 2:30 p.m. ET.
That is the sweet spot of soccer viewers realizing the World Cup was not on and getting around to changing the channel and IndyCar viewers realizing the race is starting and tuning in fashionably late.
There are positives we can draw, especially when we look at the season in it entirety so far, but let's recognize when a thumb is on the scale.
Peak viewership essentially for the opening lap of the race isn't a victory. That number is better if it is in the later stages of the race or the closing laps. It happened, but that isn't truly the number of people who invested their time in watching the race, whether they are regular viewers or people tuning for something new.
The problem is there is an urge from some to just be lied to, take the big number and run. We see it in people suggesting this broadcast partnership with Fox could lead to races occurring during the NFL season and following a 1:00 p.m. window of games when Fox only has one or two games in the 4:00 p.m. window and those are local broadcasts only meant for those markets.
For example, in week six of the 2025 NFL season, Fox had one local broadcast in the 4:00 p.m. window, and it was Tennessee at Las Vegas. That game was only broadcasted in the Tennessee and Las Vegas markets. For the rest of the country, Fox showed the NHRA event from Texas Motorplex. It drew 2.065 million viewers with a peak of 3.631 million. It was the most-watched NHRA telecast.
The numbers look good, but are they real? You may think it doesn't matter and you take the numbers and run, but there is something disingenuous in believing the best bet would be to take advantage of a situation, televisions remaining on ten or 15 minutes after a prior broadcast had ended to inflate the number, is capturing the true audience. It can be something the series and broadcast can sell, but I think we all know it isn't entirely truthful.
Growth isn't just one outlier number. It is an increase across the board. This year, IndyCar has seen that, and that is ok to be encouraged, but thinking taking advantage of certain situations and having large increases because of riding the coattails of another event is a true indicator of an increased level of interest is lie. It is good to be following these big events, but it isn't about what those numbers are. It is about what the numbers are when a race is out on its own.
This is also prep, a warning of sorts or at least setting realistic expectations, for a few weeks from now when Nashville follows the World Cup Final. IndyCar has released a tentative schedule, and the Nashville race is tentatively scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET. That would be about 30 minutes after the final whistle, should the final end within 90 minutes. I would venture to guess this race starts closer to 6:00 p.m. ET, if not after 6:00 p.m. ET. This race shouldn't start until the trophy has been lifted. IndyCar knows that. Fox knows that. Either way, there is a chance that final will draw more than 30 million viewers.
The 2014 final, held in Brazil and starting at 3:00 p.m. ET, the same time as this year's final, drew 28.8 million viewers in the United States across English and Spanish broadcasts. The 2022 final, held in December in Qatar and with a 10:00 a.m. ET start, had nearly 26 million viewers in the United States. Considering the past, 30 million could be low-balling the estimate, but it will be by far the biggest event an IndyCar has ever followed. Let's not get away if the ratings published afterward are astronomical.
I highly doubt five million people will be watching the Nashville race. Even three million would be an excessive exaggeration. Some people may stick around. The television will likely remain on Fox in the bars, but that doesn't mean these are invested viewers. It doesn't mean there will be a surge in people wanting to talk about the race afterward. This isn't going to be an Indianapolis 500-level viewership and awareness. It is hopeful that maybe 50,000 people will see something new and think they want to see more. After all, five million-plus watch the Indianapolis 500 and then the race seven days later is back to having just north of a million people watching.
We will really know the affect of following the World Cup Final not in the Nashville rating but in the rating for every race afterward. If we are honest, we likely will not see anything different even if there is an increase.
Things can be two things.
It is good to take advantage of an opportunity, and it is not going to change anything overnight.
Growth is a long game, and it is more than just one race occurring after one soccer match. At no point should anyone look at the Nashville viewership and brush their hands together as if the job is done. The job is only beginning, and real numbers to celebrate are increases for events such as Portland, Markham and every race for the rest of 2026 and into 2027.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Ai Ogura and Raúl Fernández, but did you know...
George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix, his second victory of the season.
John Bennett (sprint) and Nikola Tsolov (feature) split the Formula Two races from the Red Bull Ring. Ernesto Rivera (sprint) and Noah Strømsted (feature) split the Formula Three races.
David Alonso won the Moto2 race from Assen by 0.024 seconds over Manuel González. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his sixth victory of the season.
Shane van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his second victory of the season. Van Gisbergen also won the Grand National Series race.
The #80 LionspeedGP Porsche of Thomas Preining, Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus won the 24 Hours of Spa.
The #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Fredrik Vesti won the 6 Hours of the Glen, the team's second consecutive victory. The #99 AO Racing Oreca-Gibson of Dane Cameron, P.J. Hyett and Jonny Edgar won in LMP2. The #14 VasserSullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat won in GTD Pro. The #912 Manthey Racing Porsche of Richard Lietz, Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick won in GTD.
Sébastien Ogier won the Acropolis Rally, his 68th World Rally victory.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar will spend Independence Day weekend at Mid-Ohio.
NASCAR spends the holiday returning to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019.
It is a sprint weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters has a trip to the historic Norisring.
Formula E has a doubleheader from Shanghai.
The European Le Mans Series will be at Imola.
