IndyCar makes a defiant viewership comeback with Barber race

The viewership numbers for the 2025 Alabama IndyCar Grand Prix have been revealed by FOX, and the American open-wheel racing series has made a comeback. After disappointing viewership numbers at Long Beach, the Barber Motorsport Park number will feel like a win for the series despite missing out on the million mark.

FOX took over the broadcasting rights for the 2025 IndyCar season and started with high viewership numbers at the Grand Prix of St Petersburg, averaging 1.4 million viewers. However, the average for the next couple of races went down, with Thermal Club averaging 704,000 viewers and Long Beach averaging 552,000 viewers.

However, the series has made a comeback as the race at Barber averaged 914,000 viewers and peaked at almost a million viewers (970,000). Although it's not the million viewers average veteran NASCAR analyst Larry McReynolds had suggested as the par, it's a step in the right direction for IndyCar.

“Big numbers at Barber! @INDYCARonFOX raced to a +20% viewership increase on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park on FOX, averaging 914,000 viewers,” read Fox Sports PR’s tweet

The timing for the IndyCar race was smartly set a couple of hours before the NASCAR Cup and the F1 Miami GP, where during the previous race at Long Beach, it conflicted with the timings of the NASCAR and F1 races.

Comparing the Barber viewership to the previous year's race, the race averaged 20% higher viewers, as the number was up from 763,000 viewers in 2024 to 914,000 viewers in 2025.

Many drivers and team bosses, including Pato O'Ward and Tony Kanaan, came out and suggested that the 2025 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix was a boring race. Even IndyCar introduced the new tire rules for the upcoming race at the IMS road course to make the race interesting. Yet, the climb in the viewership number suggests that things went in the right direction for FOX.

Tony Kanaan and Pato O'Ward’s “boring” claims about the Alabama IndyCar Grand Prix

Alex Palou took the pole position at the Barber Motorsport Park and ran away with the race win, finishing 16-plus seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard in P2. Tony Kanaan and Pato O'Ward made comments about the race as they said:

“It was a pretty boring race I would say. The highlight was seeing Christian go through the Penske's while I was struggling. But great job to Christian and Nolan,” said O’Ward.

Tony Kannan was questioned about the rule to mandate the use of two sets of Primary and Alternate, each starting with the Sonsio GP, to which he replied (via Frontstretch):

“We're trying to make racing more exciting for the fans another green flag race. Let's face it, it wasn't fun, it was boring. So hopefully, we'll make a change. We're at a little bit of an extra set of tires and we'll see. A little bit more of an exciting race.”

There weren't any cautions, making the result purely based on the strategy and car pace. While it makes the race interesting for the purists, it indeed could get a bit boring for the casual viewers and enthusiasts.