It’s a new day for IndyCar as the open wheel racing series will air races for the first time on Fox Sports in 2025.
And in doing so, Fox is employing some very familiar voices who have been part of the racing series for years.
Fox made it official on Tuesday as they named F1’s Will Buxton as their lead play-by-play voice where he will be joined by analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe.
Bell and Hinchcliffe both called races alongside Leigh Diffey at NBC. But with Diffey signed to NBC and moving over to NASCAR, it makes total sense for the two IndyCar analysts to make the move with the series over to Fox. Hinchcliffe and Bell are an entertaining pair that give plenty of insight and call a good race, so it’ll be fascinating to see how Buxton fits into their already established pairing.
It’ll be the first big US TV assignment for Buxton in a play-by-play role as he previously had spent time with Speed Channel and NBC Sports Network as a pit reporter for their F1 coverage. Since 2018, he has worked for Formula 1 directly including calling races for F1TV. Although he’s a familiar face for longtime race fans from his time on American television long ago, newer racing fans will undoubtedly recognize him as one of the narrating figures for Netflix’s iconic Drive to Survive series.
It will be Fox’s first foray into IndyCar after televising NASCAR for many years. And with Fox losing out on some inventory with NASCAR also inking new contracts with NBC, Amazon, and TNT, the investment in IndyCar will help fill out their racing calendar. In fact, Fox will end their 2025 NASCAR schedule with the All-Star Race in North Wilkesboro on May 18th, then transition seamlessly into the Indy 500 on May 25th. And the network is already pulling out all the stops even including Tom Brady in ads.
The move to Fox is just as big for the IndyCar series as they have made the decision to go against the grain with their new TV deal. Instead of taking the streaming dollars, they chose to partner up with Fox to air every single race on broadcast over-the-air television. The series is hopeful that the increased exposure could help them bring new fans on board for what once was America’s most popular racing series.
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