Josef Newgarden shares hilarious detail about Tom Brady's cameo in the IndyCar commercial

FOX Sports' first IndyCar promo for 2025 featuring Josef Newgarden and a cameo by Tom Brady is the talk of town. It has a received spectacular response from fans and experts alike since being released on January 13. Newgarden has now revealed that he wasn't even aware of Brady's involvement until 24 hours before the promo aired.

In 2022, Brady, a 7-time Super Bowl winner, signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with FOX to become their lead NFL commentator. As FOX gears up for its first season as IndyCar's new exclusive broadcasting partner, they brought Brady on board to feature in their first promo.

The 45-second promo describes two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden's life and career in a hilarious manner. When the voiceover claims that he "might have the greatest jawline in sports," Brady appears and acts enviously, saying: "He's not that handsome."

IndyCar recently posted a video of Newgarden reacting to the overwhelming response the promo received. In it, the Team Penske driver also pulled back the curtain on how FOX kept him in the dark about Tom Brady's cameo.

"I did not know they were going to put Tom in it, which is so cool. I think it legitimizes everything in a lot of ways. Funny enough too, Tom's one of my heroes. Hey, I love watching the greats of the sport, and Tom was certainly one of them. He was one of the guys I looked up to, still look up to on the way he conducted himself, the way he handled his whole career. So for me, it was kind of surreal to be in a commercial and have him pop into it. I got to see it 24 hours before it went live," he said (0:37 onward).

While the jealousy in the promo was only for hilarity, Tom Brady and Josef Newgarden could actually go head-to-head at the Indy 500 this year. As per NASCAR reporter Tony Donohue, Brady will partner with NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson as co-owners to field 4-time IndyCar champ Sebastian Bourdais in a fourth Chip Ganassi Racing entry at the Indy 500.

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Josef Newgarden credits FOX Sports for reviving IndyCar's image with a bang

The 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Josef Newgarden has lauded FOX for writing and producing such a creative script to promote IndyCar. The American media giant has pulled all the stops since beginning work to resurrect IndyCar's popularity and viewership.

That included cross-promotions with the NFL. They also announced FOX analyst and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan as the honorary pace car driver at the 109th Indy 500 this year.

In his reaction to the audience's response to the promo, Newgarden credited FOX, saying:

"It's been all positive reaction to the commercial... I think mostly because of the production value... was so good. They just did a great job scripting it and making it fun, making it interesting, which I know they're going to do for the rest of the sport too."

"It's something that's been needed. IndyCar has been this hidden gem that we've talked about forever. It was a huge deal in the past and it should be a huge deal again and I think that's what the commercial really showed."

Josef Newgarden is aiming to record a third consecutive victory at the Indy 500 this year, a feat that the racing world hasn't seen before.