IndyCar president sheds light on "great experiment" with FOX that begins with Gateway race

IndyCar president Douglas Boles has recently shared his thoughts on the upcoming experimental shift in race timing set to debut at the Gateway race. The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is scheduled to take place during prime time (8 pm ET on June 15), as opposed to the traditional afternoon slot.

The 58-year-old emphasized that the decision to experiment with a later start time was made to ensure the series receives increased media exposure and maximizes TV viewership. Sharing his thoughts in an interview with Black Book Motorsport, he stated:

"...this a great experiment for us and we’re pretty excited to see where that goes. We did make some other adjustments to help us in terms of lead in or lead out and competition throughout the year so that we could try and leverage a better [audience] number.

One of the things we are most excited about the FOX relationship is that everything for this year is on ‘big’ FOX, not cable. But, in that, it had us landing on places [like] the Masters this year, you end up competing against things.

So as we’re looking at next year, it’s not just about getting on network TV, but it’s getting on network TV in places where we have a better chance to not be head-to-head with things that pull away our viewership. In our second year, we can be a little bit smarter about where we land and hopefully start times can really help keep some of those challenges we had [at bay], especially pre-Indy 500 this year."

While IndyCar has witnessed a steady upward trajectory in viewership in recent years—particularly following the shift to FOX as its broadcaster—the American open-wheel racing series has occasionally struggled to draw attention, especially on weekends when races overlap with NASCAR events.

This experiment, slated for the upcoming Gateway oval event, is expected to serve as a litmus test for audience response to evening races compared to traditional lunchtime events. If IndyCar records a jump in viewership during the event, the open-wheel series could see subsequent events and their timings shifted to prime time more often.

IndyCar president on the series' viewership

IndyCar president Douglas Boles also weighed in on the viewership numbers the series has recorded through 2025. IndyCar is off to its best start to a season in terms of audience viewership since at least the 2016 campaign.

Boles, who was appointed president in February ahead of the commencement of the 2025 campaign, credited this success to the partnership with FOX. The 58-year-old, during the same interaction, stated:

"...For us, the challenge always has been how do you get that energy and excitement around the 500 and get some percentage of those people to continue to follow the sport throughout the season?

I think you’ll find at the end of the year that our TV numbers [will be] up over the last several years for sure. I feel really confident in that sense because Fox has done such a good job. I can’t wait for our Gateway race in St Louis in two weeks on Sunday night, primetime on network television [which has] never been done in the IndyCar Series.

That should be a great [audience] number and a great opportunity to introduce IndyCar racing, especially IndyCar racing on an oval, to a lot of fans, so I still feel really encouraged."

The popularity of the open-wheel series, particularly during the 2025 campaign, has witnessed a spike in numbers even beyond the shores of the United States. The Indy 500, which Alex Palou won, recorded a staggering 7,087,000 viewers—a more than 41% jump compared to the number achieved in the 2024 season.

The impressive numbers also carried over to the Detroit Grand Prix, with the Michigan event attracting over 1.6 million viewers—an increase of more than 75% compared to the previous campaign.