Steve Phelps affirms NASCAR's 'King of the Hill' status while addressing FOX's $30M+ IndyCar spend

NASCAR President Steve Phelps has praised FOX's IndyCar commercials that aired during the Super Bowl, emphasizing that the series' growth is good for motorsports. He also acknowledged NASCAR's dominance in the U.S. but highlighted the mutual benefit of growing motorsports in the U.S alongside it.

Steve Phelps has served as the President on NASCAR since 2018 and now oversees all operations, commercial and competition aspects of the series. The NASCAR series is also partially broadcasted on FOX in America and Phelps has welcomed the promotion FOX is providing for their newest motorsports partners.

The broadcasting company reportedly took a hit of over $30 Million on their Super Bowl commericials for IndyCar. This campaign included three seperate promos that featured stars drivers Josef Newgarden, Pato O'Ward and Alex Palou.

In an interview with Forbes Sports Money, Steve Phelps explained how it's good for motorsports to see other series also grow in stature. He also indirectly affirmed NASCAR's dominance in the U.S, and added that it is important for IndyCar to get more exposure. Phelps said:

“I think FOX did a good job with the IndyCar commercials. We want to root for IndyCar, and they want to root for us and F1 for that matter. Having motorsports rise, helps everybody." [via Forbes]

“With NASCAR being the ‘King of the Hill’ here in the United States, it’s especially good for IndyCar," he added.

According to reports, a 30-second commercial spot in this year's Super Bowl was estimated to cost $8 million. Since the event was broadcasted on FOX, they practically took a $30 million hit by running all three of their new commercials, rather than giving the spots away and making pure profit.

The company's gamble seems to have paid off tho as reportedly 126 million people tuned in to watch FOX's coverage of the Super Bowl world-wide. This number is the highest ever for the event.

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Steve Phelps has his say on former IndyCar star Helio Castroneves competing in the Daytona 500

Helio Castroneves ahead of his NASCAR debut at the Daytona 500 - Source: Imagn

Steve Phelps has expressed his excitement for seeing four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves make his NASCAR debut at the Daytona 500. Helio will be racing under Trackhouse Racing's PROJECT91 entry, driving the #91 Wendy's Chevrolet.Phelps has said that adding such drivers to the roster makes the Daytona 500 even better. He said:

“I’m excited that [Helio Castroneves] is here. Having him here with all the success he has had, he’s a name. He’s a hell of a race car driver."

Phelps also praised Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks for making the move happen:

“My hat is off to both Castroneves as well as Justin Marks. It’s a good thing for our sport.”

Helio Castroneves is one of only four drivers to have won the Indy 500 four times, with his most recent victory coming in 2021 with Meyer Shank Racing.