Fox have some major fixes to make before Thermal
Fox's IndyCar debut went well. Will Buxton, Townsend Bell, and James Hinchcliffe were fantastic for their first race together in the Fox Sports booth, and Buxton clearly spent a ton of time and effort delving into the series as the de facto replacement for Leigh Diffey, the lead man at NBC for more than a decade. The driver lineup introduction, featuring all 27 drivers, was also a welcome addition.
There are plenty of talking points whenever a new graphics package is released. People don't like the goofy cartoons, people don't like the leaderboard font, people would rather have the names across the top, etc.
That is all subjective, and nothing will please everybody. Change is inevitable, and we aren't going back to 2006. At least we didn't get the Fox Super Bowl scorebug.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleHowever, there are still some key things that need to be fixed. In qualifying, first and foremost, you simply cannot remove the scoring graphic entirely in the final minute of a session.
Additionally, it would be nice to have a tracker for each driver like NBC did, detailing where they are in relation to P1 and/or to the cutoff time. I think we all miss the "Christmas tree lights" display, to coin a phrase often used by Bell and Hinchcliffe.
Then there is whatever the heck was going on with the pylon throughout the entirety of Sunday's race.
I would say that Fox's #IndyCar debut went well. Obviously some growing pains, but to be expected. Announcers were top-notch.
— Beyond the Flag (@Beyond_The_Flag) March 3, 2025
The fact that this happened multiple times per lap - with no pit stops, overtakes, or the like - was somewhat annoying. Hopefully it gets sorted out. pic.twitter.com/Oxw9udeqOH
To be fair, I'm sure Kyle Kirkwood would have taken a 0th place finish if it meant beating Alex Palou.