IndyCar on FOX shifts start times for five races to avoid conflicts

IndyCar has made some surprise changes to its schedule, starting on June 15 with its second oval race of the season following the 109th Indianapolis 500. The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at WWT Raceway will now be held on Sunday night. Additionally, IndyCar has adjusted the start times for four other races in the second half of the season.

Originally scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on Father’s Day, the event at WWT Raceway will now start at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. This will be IndyCar’s first primetime Sunday night race broadcast on network TV and the first night race at the 1.25-mile oval since 2019.

“This is a massive primetime showcase under the lights for the stars of the NTT IndyCar Series,” said IndyCar President Douglas Boles.

“This is also a tremendous display of partnership from both FOX Sports and our friends at World Wide Technology Raceway, who’ve worked with us to generate this exciting opportunity for our sport. Race weekend in St. Louis is just a month away, and fans in venue and around the country are in for a real treat when IndyCar arrives in town.”

The schedule change is expected to provide drivers, who have been pushing for more night races on the IndyCar calendar as they often provide better racing conditions — namely, cooler temperatures . WWT Raceway also saw the most on-track passes of any event during the 2024 season. This change is also good news for fans, who will now be able to enjoy the event from the grandstands in pleasant summer evening temperatures.

The new timing of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will prevent IndyCar from clashing with the inaugural NASCAR Cup race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, as well as the Canadian Grand Prix.

The other events changing start times

Additionally, IndyCar and Fox have agreed to change the start times of four other events to avoid other broadcast conflicts with NASCAR, though not all of them.

Consequently, the race at Road America will move from 3:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET on June 22. Additionally, the race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 6 and Race 2 at the Iowa Speedway on July 13 will change from 2 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET. Finally, the race on the Streets of Toronto, planned for July 20, will move from 2 p.m. to noon.

IndyCar expects that the adjustments to tune-in times will “capitalize on opportunities to further build an audience” for the series. So far in 2025, the average race audience has grown by 15 percent since the beginning of IndyCar’s partnership with Fox.