The previous weekend at Phoenix saw NASCAR and IndyCar come together for the first time. It also marked IndyCar’s return to Phoenix since the last time in 2018.

With this, the viewership soared. The NASCAR Cup Series race saw 2.841 million viewers on Fox, while IndyCar amassed 1.247 million viewers, which is an increase of 95% over the previous year’s Saturday race.

It seems viewers love watching racing all day, and the double header was proof of that. This is a sentiment that has also been echoed by NASCAR veteran Mark Martin, who believes that the sport definitely needs more double-headers going forward.

While talking to his son, Matt Martin, and Charlie Marlow, on the Mark Martin Archive Podcast, he recalled that such double-headers didn’t happen back in the day, and that has a lot to do with NASCAR’s earlier cut-throat competitiveness, and its mentality of grabbing as much viewership as possible.

With Fox currently holding broadcast rights to both, it isn’t a problem now, but it was one back when Bill France Jr. was at the helm of NASCAR.

Answering his son’s question on whether double-headers took place back then, the veteran said,

“They may have, but I don't remember it. We had some ASA conjunction races with IndyCar at Michigan and Atlanta. I don't recall NASCAR doing it; their policy was to try to squash everything else and hog it for themselves.”

A double header can be compelling enough to bring in newer audiences, as noted by Martin, who said that a NASCAR fan can be a casual IndyCar fan, and vice versa. Anyone who loves watching racing would certainly seek more action, and that is where double-headers come in.

“People who love racing as I do would love to watch more than one race a day, especially when we're talking top-tier stuff. For me, I am a late model dirt enthusiast, and Jonathan Davenport's my guy.

When Jonathan is not in the race, it's not as compelling to me. So, you need those top-tier races with all the best in them, to make them compelling to a lot of the race fans,” he added.

Pato O’Ward is not keen on IndyCar playing second

While the double-header was certainly a victory for the fans, Pato O’Ward, who drives the No.5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren, is not too convinced.

In the season opener, he openly expressed displeasure about how IndyCar has been treated as a supporting act to NASCAR. He added that it’s not a priority for him whether or not more double-headers take place in the future.

“I’m already tired of IndyCar being like the support race. I know that every time we race with them, we are always the side show. It’s great for the fans, but not for us,” he said.

Reacting to O’Ward’s comments, Will Buxton spoke on the Speed On Fox channel about how double headers are a great idea for the fans and that it shouldn’t be about anyone other than them.

Buxton further feels that since NASCAR is more popular than IndyCar, it is natural that the latter will be a supporting act, and that is fine.

This, however, did not seem to convince O’Ward, who came up with a sarcastic tweet while replying to Jeff Gluck’s post on the viewership metrics of NASCAR and IndyCar.

He wrote, “I stand corrected, i’m so happy to be here with NASCAR this weekend.”

While O’Ward may not be keen on double-headers, the numbers clearly don’t lie. Fans certainly want more race action, and it shows.

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi