This weekend’s Music City Grand Prix from Nashville Superspeedway could bring an unusually large numbers of viewers to IndyCar’s Sunday afternoon event.
The reason for this is that the race airs on US television directly following the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.
FOX Sports covers both events, and the any sports fan that is tuned into the football finale will be exposed to a dose of open wheel motorsports if they do not change the channel.
“I think it’s a big opportunity for us, there’s no doubt,” said last year’s winner Josef Newgarden ahead of the weekend. “I think we’re all excited for that. If we can produce a good show…
“We always talk about IndyCar racing, just needing to get more people exposed to it, at least in the current era.
“We believe we have some of the best racing on the planet, if not the best. It’s well-rounded in the fact that we go everywhere.
“We have all facets of motorsport that we have to perfect: street courses, road courses, ovals. I think the oval racing is some of our best racing nowadays.
“To have that potential lead-in that we hope to see on Sunday night is just a great opportunity for us to introduce IndyCar racing to people that have never seen it or never given it an opportunity.
“You look at the landscape for sports in 2026, I think people are just more interested in live sports. If you’ve never heard of IndyCar before, what better way to put it on people’s radar that this is going on.
“We’ve got great teams, great personalities, and great racing they can consume. It’s a big opportunity for us, thanks to FOX.”
Large numbers in 2026
IndyCar has been bringing in large audience numbers all season, with events outside the Indianapolis 500 averaging 1.5 million viewers each weekend.
The Indy 500, a special event on the calendar, saw over 6.6 million fans watch the broadcast in late May.
It is not known if the viewership figure will be quite as high this Sunday, but there is a possibility for a very strong audience considering over 15 million watched the World Cup semi-finals on FOX earlier in the week and even more are expected for the football final.
One complication could be the weather, as there is currently a 50% chance of scattered rain on Sunday afternoon in Nashville.
A weather delay, even if it only lasts 30 minutes, could be long enough for potential new fans to lose interest and switch to a different program.
Regardless, IndyCar’s new relationship with FOX continues to provide opportunities for growth that it would have a hard time finding elsewhere.
Sunday’s 400-mile race around Nashville Superspeedway is scheduled for 4:30 PM CT, with a built-in understanding that the race could be pushed back if the preceding match goes to extra time or otherwise finishes later than planned.
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