IndyCar shatters viewership record at Detroit, yet lags behind F1's Spanish GP

FOX has released the viewership numbers for IndyCar's Detroit Grand Prix and the volatile upswing for the American series continues. The race won by Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood averaged 1.061 million viewers and peaked at 1.201 million.

This is a 75% increase over the 2024 Detroit GP, which had an average viewership of 608,000. Per FOX, the race also became the most-watched Detroit GP since race two of the Detroit double-header in 2021, which averaged 1.383 million viewers and where Pato O'Ward took his second IndyCar win.

This year's race had some decent overtakes and a good share of crashes, with 19 caution laps in the 100-lap race and 11 lead changes among 10 drivers. Scott McLaughlin's 'beef' with McLaren boss Tony Kanaan was the unexpected cherry on top after an eventful race.

Yet, F1's Spanish Grand Prix that concluded a couple of hours before, where McLaren took a 1-2 led by Oscar Piastri, outshone the IndyCar race. It averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN, the largest US TV audience for an event.

Detroit GP also landed a new three-year contract through 2028, with an option for a fourth year. Though its average viewership was higher than in 2024, it was a considerable step down from the 109th Indy 500, which averaged over 7 million viewers.

Nonetheless, after seven races, FOX is averaging 2.173 million viewers, up 31% from 2024, which had an average viewership of 1.662 million.

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Detroit GP president credits IndyCar owner Roger Penske for changing the organization

Roger Penske at the IMSA WeatherTech Championship Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring - Source: Getty

After the Detroit GP concluded, its president, Michael Montri, and chairman Bud Denker sat down with the media to discuss the success of the event and what goes on behind the scenes in producing such a race weekend.

When asked about the pressure of being the next race after the prestigious Indy 500, Montri said during the IndyCar media conference:

"We love this position on the schedule. Let's start with that. No, it is. Look, on the event side of Penske Entertainment, we have grown pretty quickly here in a short amount of time, and we have, as Bud mentioned earlier, a very small team of dedicated people that get it done. We are involved, obviously, on the event side in IMS, but they have their own team over there."

Denker elaborated on the small group of people, predominantly women, working towards making the Detroit GP a success. He credited them for being 'doers' and doing everything they should instead of asking someone else to do the work. This led Montri to emphasize how the culture began from the top, with IndyCar owner Roger Penske leading the way.

"You're right, Roger is the best. You talk about a doer, he's not going to ask anybody to pick up a piece of trash. He's going to pick it up."

IndyCar will take one weekend off before returning to FOX with the St. Louis race at the World Wide Technology Raceway, where Josef Newgarden won in 2024.