Homestead-Miami NASCAR ratings on FS1 more than triple IndyCar on Fox

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami on Sunday beat the IndyCar race in the TV ratings battle. FOX Sports announced that the Homestead race had 2,464,000 viewers on FS1. Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal reported that the IndyCar race at the Thermal Club only had 704,000 viewers on FOX.

For the Homestead race, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic wrote that the viewership is “up 3 percent vs. last year’s sixth race of the season (COTA), and up 5 percent (from) last year’s race at Homestead, which aired on NBC.” The viewership for the IndyCar race was down from 788,000 last year on NBC.

Last summer, FOX Sports announced that it landed a deal to be the exclusive home of the NTT IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 beginning in 2025. “This represents unrivaled exposure and provides an unparalleled growth opportunity for the most competitive and entertaining motorsport on the planet,” INDYCAR CEO Mark Miles said in a statement at the time. “FOX Sports is a fully committed partner, ready to bring engaging and technically innovative coverage to millions of fans across the country while also promoting INDYCAR thoroughly across all its platforms.”

Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Homestead race

IndyCar doesn’t go head-to-head with NASCAR every week since its schedule is a little different. The next IndyCar race isn’t until April 13, when the drivers compete at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

NASCAR will have races every weekend until November. And Sunday’s race was a treat for fans as they saw Kyle Larson win his first race of the year. After the race, Larson spoke to FOX Sports about winning the race after battling multiple challenges.

“It was far from perfect,” Larson said. “I gave up a spot and a half, almost two spots there by getting in the wall too many times. I knew I wasn’t going to get the best restart there. I knew I wasn’t good on the short runs and just thought if I could hold off the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and the 45 (Tyler Reddick) behind me, you know, I could get Rheem in the top and the 19 (Chase Briscoe) too. Then I got in the wall and let him by.

“Just kind of had to keep plugging away at what I know and what’s good for me. So just proud of myself, proud of the team. Just a lot of gritty, hard work there today between damage on pit road, you know, qualifying bad, bad restarts, all that stuff.”