Folks, this is a big year for Fox Sports. Starting in 2025, they have bagged the rights to broadcast the whole IndyCar season, including the iconic Indianapolis 500. And Fox is doing all it can to make sure that they start off on the right note. Do you remember all the quirky commercials they released…featuring Joseph Newgarden, Alex Palou, and some others? And they even spent a fat check on those. All for letting the world know that ‘IndyCar is now on Fox.’ While we get this is crucial, Fox in turn has somehow sidelined NASCAR! And with their latest move, their IndyCar bias has become too prominent to ignore.
As opposed to all those fancy IndyCar Ads, we got a plain, boring commercial for the Daytona 500. Well, yes, it had ‘The Intimidator,’ some nostalgia, and Joey Logano for some reason. But the commercial made no sense. And to be honest, ‘The Great American Race‘ deserves more than one commercial. Also, forget the Daytona 500. We did not see any Ads from Fox about the 2025 Cup season. Rather, they got more and more into hot water with NASCAR fans, as the season progressed. And naturally, fans are often calling for change, but Fox doesn’t bat an ear. However, on their very first IndyCar blunder…they have proactively made changes.
Why is Fox Sports biased towards IndyCar?
Look, we get that Fox is not as big in the NASCAR scene now. Especially with the new media rights deal…which only gives them 14 races, before stream giants Amazon Prime and TNT take over for 5 races each. And eventually, NBC broadcasts the rest of the season. But still, 14 races are a lot and Fox owes it to the fans to give them a smooth broadcast. Especially since they are completing 25 years with the sport. However, until now in the season, they have done nothing special for their NASCAR fans, rather have only angered them.
Did you catch the Bowman Gray race? It was either a too-tight frame, or they just stayed on one driver for a very long time. Things were all over the place. Also, it’s common knowledge that pre-race events are a big thing in the Daytona 500. And fans were eagerly waiting for the Air Force Thunderbirds flyover. But Fox failed to show it! And this is just one of many incidents where they faulted. And then their bad streak even continued in IndyCar. The season kicked off at the Firestone Grand Prix at St. Petersburg Racetrack and Fox had promised to bring new graphics.
However, FOX’s international audience did not receive the in-car performance overlays placed on the inside of the aeroscreens. Also, the GPS tracking pointers which call out the car and show things like real-time speed, were absent. Naturally, this upset IndyCar fans. And Fox was prompt with their response. Their explanation was that the graphics were missing due to technical glitches and that they’d fix it for the upcoming Thermal Club weekend. And what’s surprising is that they have delivered on their promise. Recently Motorsports Journalist Jeff Gluck reposted an X post of ‘IndyCar on Fox’ revealing this change.
The post showed images of the new graphics for the upcoming weekend along with the caption, “No leak this time! Check out these updated @IndyCaron FOX graphics that you’ll see starting this weekend at The Thermal Club. *New Headshots *Redesigned HUD *Larger more informative Pointers.”
No leak this time! Check out these updated @IndyCar on FOX graphics that you’ll see starting this weekend at The Thermal Club.
*New Headshots
*Redesigned HUD
*Larger more informative Pointers pic.twitter.com/AyrZysutF1
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 20, 2025
This promptness is what has surprised many. It clearly shows that they are biased with Roger Penske‘s series. NASCAR fans have been demanding a change, but rather the list of problems just keeps piling up. After the Daytona 500 blunder, Fox failed to show at least three caution periods at the Atlanta race. As commercials were prioritized over those. And when the broadcast returned, the moment had already passed, leaving fans clueless about what happened in the race.
Then again, in the recent Vegas race, veteran announcer, Mike Joy, said a wrong fact. After Josh Berry clinched the win, he said, “Previous best finish, fourth last week in Phoenix.” That’s true, he was P4 in Phoenix, but that’s not his best finish. Last season he bagged a pair of third-place results at New Hampshire and Darlington in the spring. On top of this, the broadcast was yet again crappy. The same weekend, ESPN broadcasted the Australian Grand Prix and fans said that it was light years ahead of Fox’s NASCAR coverage.
However, maybe with this one recent change…things might improve, but now ESPN might be in trouble.
Would management change result in a better broadcast?
See. It’s not like Fox Sports has been messing things up in just the 2025 season. It happened in the previous seasons and they have been called out for that. And one thing that everyone hates is when the folks in the booths and the folks in the studio are not in sync. The announcer is saying something and the visuals playing don’t even match those. This happened in 2023, and Denny Hamlin was quick to point it out.
Remember when he had said, “I did notice too, as soon as some action would start to heat up on a side-by-side battle, they’d cut to like 12th place. You see the second-place guy working over the first-place guy like right on his a– and about to make a move and they cut to like side-by-side for 12th. It’s like, [expletive], let’s keep it in the battle that’s about to dictate who’s going to be leading this race. Certainly, I think from a production standpoint, we could make some improvements.”
And the person calling the shots in a studio is the director. They are responsible for all the visuals that go out and the moment they go out. And recently, the director responsible for the NASCAR coverage is leaving Fox. The Athletic in their recent X post, shared, “ESPN knows Monday Night Football has room to grow. With the network’s first Super Bowl on the horizon in 2027, it’s bringing in bringing in veteran Fox director Artie Kempner to elevate the broadcast.”
And fans are now pitting ESPN. But jokes apart…let’s hope the new person who replaces Kemper does a better job. What do you think? Do you think this would change anything? Share your thoughts with us in the comment below.
The post NASCAR Falls Further Down the Priority Ladder as Insider Exposes Fox’s Blatant Roger Penske Favoritism appeared first on EssentiallySports.
