Graham Rahal demands Penske to do IndyCar justice by striving for "triple" growth in new era

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing star Graham Rahal weighed in on IndyCar's growth, drawing a comparison between the two premier motorsport series in the U.S., NASCAR and IndyCar. The 36-year-old demanded that Penske do justice to the American open-wheel racing series.

Roger Penske took over the IndyCar series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Hulman and Company in 2019. Penske Entertainment came with a vision to take IndyCar back to its glory days and has taken major steps towards that, which included signing FOX as the exclusive broadcaster ahead of the 2025 season.

FOX began the IndyCar promotions as early as the 2024 holiday season and even launched three promos starring Pato O'Ward, Josef Newgarden, and Alex Palou. NFL star Tom Brady also featured in one of these promos. The IndyCar series has seen around a 30% increase in viewership in comparison to the 2024 season, with the Indy 500 surpassing the seven million average viewership.

However, Graham Rahal believed that it wasn't enough and that Penske needed to do more. The RLL driver featured on the latest episode of the Pit Pass Indy podcast, where he was questioned about NASCAR scheduling the Brickyard 400 at the same time as the IndyCar race at Laguna Seca.

Graham Rahal was asked whether IndyCar shot itself in the foot by allowing NASCAR to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the same time as the Grand Prix of Monterey. The 36-year-old suggested that going head-to-head wasn't great. When questioned about IndyCar's viewership dropping from a million to 700,000, Graham Rahal pointed out the scope of improvement:

“You know what? The promotion of the series has got to get a lot better. And that starts with the series, period. That starts with, you know, Penske Entertainment, like we as a series need to market ourselves better, period. And so until that changes, I don't know how much of a boost you're really going to see. And we don't need to be complacent and content with what we're getting either.

“We need to strive all the time, not just to be better, but to find a way to double or triple what we're seeing continuously. So that's something we got to look at,” added Graham Rahal.

After this interview, IndyCar announced that FOX acquired a third of the series and has also extended the media rights by multiple years.

Graham Rahal reacts to FOX acquiring a third of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway

On July 31, 2025, IndyCar announced that FOX had acquired a third of Penske Entertainment (a unit of Penske Corporation, which owns the IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway). FOX came aboard as the exclusive broadcaster for the American open wheel racing series, but soon showcased keen interest in more than just the media rights.

As Roger Penske approved FOX’s acquisition appeal, Graham Rahal hailed the move as he posted:

“LFG. Big news for our sport. Thank you FOX, no doubt we’ll take our sport and marketing to another level that is much needed to match with that great TV package.”

Michael Andretti had previously asked Roger Penske to sell a share of the series and invest the same into the American open wheel racing series. Reports suggest that the FOX deal was worth between $125M and $135M.