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IndyCar's first race of 2025 is here, and a season full of cut-throat racing begins with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg this Sunday. Eric Shanks, the CEO of FOX Sports, which has become the American racing series' new broadcasting partner, made a bold prediction for the race with a Formula 1 comparison.
Shanks claimed that the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will have more overtakes for the race lead than F1 will have in its entire 24-race calendar.
"The racing will be extremely exciting. The league already has an incredible, exciting, fast product on track. I'm looking for more passes for this lead in this one race than Formula One will have all season - that's a true stat, by the way," the FOX CEO said in an exclusive interview with Puck.
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Looking at historical data, Shanks' claim is not as ludicrous as it sounds. As per a report on the site of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix (IndyCar's Nashville race), the American open-wheel racing series averages 425 overtakes each race, nearly 10 times more than F1's 45.
In 2024, IndyCar witnessed a humongous 5842 overtakes in the 17 points-paying races made by 43 drivers (full-time and part-time drivers). In comparison, F1 had seven times less overtaking, with 788 passes in 23 races.
Such a massive disparity arises from F1 majorly being a constructors' championship, with the 10 active teams thoroughly separated by varying car speeds. Contrarily, its American open-wheel counterpart is a spec series, with the teams having very little scope for making their cars different from their rivals, and hence, the grid remains closer.
FOX CEO promises to make IndyCar look "sexy" in 2025
IndyCar is at a tipping point marketing-wise. FOX has begun revolutionizing the series' image in the public eye and outrightly branding it as the "Fastest Racing on Earth". Indy cars can go at speeds of over 230mph, so the tagline isn't far from the truth.
Ahead of the first race at St. Petersburg, Eric Shanks spoke highly of their plans for a branding overhaul and the positive changes in the TV broadcast. In the aforementioned interview with Puck, he said:
"The production quality we're investing is going to make the sport as sexy as it's ever been and as approachable as it's ever been. Motorsports has an issue - the stars are completely covered up with helmets and these really cool-looking cars. If you're tuning in for the first time, you don't know who's in what car. So for the first time ever, we invested in technology, so that when you tune in, you'll be able to see who's driving what car."
FOX's promotional build-up for IndyCar in January and February has already been a hit among fans. The promos featuring Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, and Pato O'Ward were also aired during the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500, NASCAR's biggest race of the year.
