IndyCar’s latest signing wants to ‘make the sport bigger than NASCAR’ in the USA

IndyCar has played second fiddle to NASCAR in terms of viewership in the United States for the majority of the time. Now, with FOX Sports taking over the broadcasting rights from NBC, Will Buxton has been brought in to commentate on the series. Buxton has set the goal to make the sport bigger than its counterparts, especially NASCAR in the USA.

Last year, NASCAR averaged a viewership of 3.31 million viewers at the race in COTA. On the other hand, IndyCar endured a marginal dip in viewers from its 2023 iteration and brought in 816,000 viewers(according to Blackbook Motorsport).

Though the premier events of both series' staggered in over 5 million viewers, the open-wheel racing scene saw a reduction in viewers over the normal race weekends. This was the largest in comparison to both NASCAR and F1.

However, with FOX Sports taking over the broadcasting role from NBC, Will Buxton was snubbed from his F1 presenting role to join the American open-wheel racing series. He then asserted that there was no reason for NASCAR to have more viewers than IndyCar. While claiming he wants the latter series to dethrone the stock-wheel racing championship from the top spot (via The Race):

"There's no reason why IndyCar shouldn't be the most popular form of motorsport here, and that means making it bigger than NASCAR. Will that take time? Absolutely. But that's why they've assembled the group that they have."

The 43-year-old will become the voice of the championship throughout the American continent, with the first race being held at the streets of St. Petersburg on March 2.

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How Zak Brown became a key catalyst in Will Buxton's switch to IndyCar

Will Buxton (L) and Zak Brown(R) at the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium - Source: Getty

After being an F1 presenter for years, this move required Buxton to consult from figures around the paddock. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown was one person who had first-hand experience working in the American racing sphere. He then messaged the 53-year-old, who suggested he make the move without any second thoughts (via The Race):

"I said to Zak: ‘I think IndyCar can be incredible, but do you believe that the growth potential is there? And, from everything you've heard from Fox, are they as serious as they seem about it?’ Zak replied with a text message that was three words, and it just said: ‘F**king do it!’ That was literally all I needed to know.”

The 2025 season will be full of new beginnings. Buxton would be commenting on the Indy 500, while watching the race for the first time in his life, making the experience a challenging and exciting one for the Englishman.