Freedom 250 is most-watched IndyCar race, besides Indy 500, since 2008
· Yahoo Sports
The IndyCar Freedom 250 race had a lot of eyes on it.
FOX Sports issued a press release on Tuesday, Aug. 25 saying that 3.282 million fans tuned into the one-off race, which was held in a rectangular-circuit through Washington, D.C. The start/finish line was in front of the U.S. Capitol and a stretch of the track went down Pennsylvania Avenue.
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Since Sunday's competition was the first, and only, edition of the race, there are no direct viewership ratings to compare. But FOX said that this number is the most-watched non-Indy 500 IndyCar race since 2008 when open-wheel racing in the United States was united in a merger between Indy Racing League and Champ Car.
This year's Indy 500 had an audience of 6.635 million viewers, a 6% decrease from 2025, FOX's first season as IndyCar's broadcast partner. This year's Grand Prix at Road America previously was the most-watched race besides the Indy 500 with an audience of 1.803 million.
The network added that the audience for the Freedom 250 was a 279% increase from the average Sunday viewership of an IndyCar (non-Indy 500) race during the 2025 season.
FOX utilized 90 cameras in its broadcast, including placing one on top of the Washington Monument. The competition, which Kyle Kirkwood won, was part of the festivities for the 250th birthday of the United States.
FOX also broke records this summer for the World Cup. The final match, in which Spain beat Argentina for its second men's title, saw an average audience of 38,937,000 viewers, making it the most-watched soccer match in United Stateshistory. The semifinal match between Lionel Messi's Argentina and England was the most-watched semifinal fixture in the tournament's history.
In other motorsports television ratings news, Formula 1's viewership has declined this season in U.S. household reach since switching from ESPN to Apple TV.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Freedom 250 is most-watched IndyCar race, besides Indy 500, since 2008