"That's the dumbest thing I’ve heard": When Roger Penske rejected rumors of Liberty Media trying to buy IndyCar

Roger Penske dismissed rumors surrounding the motorsports world in April 2022 about Liberty Media attempting to buy IndyCar. After the Liberty-owned Formula One announced its third Grand Prix event in America, whispers arose regarding the conglomerate's desire to buy another racing series, but the IndyCar owner shut down those claims.

Liberty Media changed the face of motorsports with its F1 acquisition in 2017. As a part of its development process, the group added a third American race to the calendar with the Las Vegas street race alongside the existing Miami and Austin events. This led to speculation about Liberty's interest in American motorsports.

But Roger Penske, who owns not just IndyCar, but all of its top institutions, quickly rubbished those claims.

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard. Let me tell you this, it doesn't make any sense to me... There's not enough money that would even tempt me to sell it. I don't need to. I'm not in it for the money. I'm in it for because I love the sport, from a competition standpoint, from a marketing standpoint, from a technology standpoint," Penske told RACER.

Penske completed the purchase of IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and IMS Productions in 2020, and has long insisted that the deal wasn't driven by financial motivation. That love is being tested in a rapidly evolving American motorsports market. He acknowledged F1's surging U.S. profile and framed it not as a threat, but as a new kind of competition.

"I see Formula 1 as an international series where they're the Indianapolis 500 of just about every country they visit. So I think it will bring more race fans... But we'll have to compete. We have the diversity in IndyCar. We have high-speed ovals; there's no Formula 1 race where they qualify at 230 miles an hour for 10 miles like we do at Indianapolis," Roger Penske added.

IndyCar hosts events on a variety of tracks: street circuits, road courses, short ovals, and intermediates. He believes this diversity was the differentiation factor.

However, Liberty Media's aggressive U.S. push was buoyed by the unexpected cultural success of Netflix's docuseries, Drive to Survive, among younger audiences.

"I think that's good for us": Roger Penske holds his ground, as Liberty reshapes the game

Owner Roger Penske of Penske Motorsports before the IMSA Twelve Hours of Sebring - Source: Getty

Formula One has become as much a lifestyle product as a motorsport. It has more than doubled its U.S. audience since 2018, with a 106% increase. Amid this, NASCAR remains the strongest force in American motorsports, consistently pulling in 2.5 to 3 million viewers on average in 2025 (as per Blackbook). But the signs of decline are clear.

NASCAR's traditional fan base is aging, and while streaming initiatives like airing races on Prime Video have brought in younger viewers, they haven't fully replaced what's being lost. For instance, while the 2025 Nashville Cup race drew just 2.06 million, its lowest since joining the calendar, Prime delivered NASCAR's youngest audience in over a decade.

IndyCar, by contrast, has seen pockets of resurgence on the same weekend. FOX drew 1.06 million viewers for the 2025 Detroit Grand Prix, its best since 2016. The series' YTD average is at 1.77 million with the Indy 500 included, but drops to 893,000 without it. Roger Penske's own belief in the Indy 500 as the heart of American open-wheel racing is borne out in those numbers.

Roger Penske on the Grand Prix track Belle Isle in Detroit in May 2013-Source: Imagn

"They're (Liberty Media) looking at trying to have a bigger TV package here, and that's only good for us. Because if there's momentum on what the value of the series are, and I look at our TV numbers and their TV numbers are pretty much the same from the standpoint of viewership, I think that's good for us," Penske added (via Racer).

The Miami Grand Prix during the Nashville weekend saw 2.2 million viewers on ABC. While down from its record-setting 3.1 million in 2023, it remains one of the highest-rated races in the U.S. market.

It's into this landscape that Roger Penske's denial of a Liberty takeover landed with purpose. IndyCar may be in a crowded paddock, but its owner is still betting big on what makes it distinct.

Edited by Tushar Bahl