IndyCar star driver Josef Newgarden is the first to be showcased in Fox Sports’ introductory campaign for Indycar, premiering March 2 on Fox.
The campaign, titled “the fastest racing on Earth,” dropped Sunday, January 12 in the NFL matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. Two additional spots, featuring drivers Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward, are on deck and a third is coming that will see Newgarden and O’Ward face off. Fox Sports plans to run the spots throughout the highly visible NFL playoffs and during Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, February 9.
Working with frequent production partner Special US, the Newgarden spot is fresh, fast and fun, using quick cuts, dramatic VFX and snappy copy to draw in potential fans.
“IndyCar has more risk, more danger, more thrills – that’s where we built the campaign,” said Blake Danforth, VP, marketing, Fox Sports. “A fun way to tell that story was to overload it and make it super fast-paced. We wanted to give sports fans a ton to get behind.”
“To the naked eye, all race cars seem fast. It was our job to get across that IndyCar is truly racing at its fastest,” said Josh Hacohen, creative director at Special Group in LA. “Turns out it was the drivers who made the best storytelling vehicle—there’s no fastest race without the fastest drivers.”
The Newgarden spot also features a cameo by Fox NFL sportscaster and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
Tom Brady was a nice thing to have,” said Blake Danforth, VP, Fox Sports. “Brady is a race fan. [Seven-time F1 world champion] Lewis Hamilton is one of his buddies. Right there is a nice way to connect the NFL with IndyCar – the adrenaline and the speed will connect with football fans.”
While Newgarden isn’t a household name, he’s well known to IndyCar fans: he’s a two-time back-to-back defending Indy 500 champion, a two-time series champion and the series’ winningest driver.
On Tuesday, Fox Sports announced its Indycar broadcast team: Veteran broadcaster Will Buxton will handle play-by-play while James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell will provide race analysis, said Brad Zager, president of production and operations and executive producer, Fox Sports.
The 2025 IndyCar season launches on Fox with the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, Fla., at noon ET on Sunday, March 2. The season includes the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25, and will conclude with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 31.