As a former driver, Kenny Wallace is one unhappy man when talks about FOX prioritizing IndyCar over NASCAR are being surfaced. Even though FOX has not publicly confirmed this, the closure of NASCAR Hub has indeed caught the attention of fans. As the tension between the two motorsport competitions is presumably high, Wallace shared a stern take, shutting down IndyCar’s superiority.

Kenny Wallace rips IndyCar with a brutal take

In the recent Coffee with Kenny segment on X, Wallace touched upon what he thinks is the battle for supremacy between IndyCar and NASCAR. Addressing it, the veteran NASCAR driver did not hold back before sharing a thumping conclusion.

“IndyCar is a much lower series than NASCAR,” he said. “Even though they’re very sophisticated, they got a lot of money, and they fly upside-down airplanes. Let’s go back to last week at Phoenix. All the IndyCar people, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever seen.’ Well, yeah, because you were with NASCAR and you were at a NASCAR-owned track and NASCAR lets you race there.”

To support his statement, Wallace mentioned how FOX reported an increase in viewership this season. Decoding the reason behind it, Wallace mentioned the involvement of Michael Jordan, the changed championship format, and the overall “good” races contributed to it.

“NASCAR and FOX says NASCAR TV ratings are up 20% this year. Why do you think that is? Respond right now. Why are NASCAR TV ratings up 20% this year? Well, first of all, the races are good. That’s simple. And Mark Martin got the points changed. That’s good. But I think he got some superstars. I got to give a lot of the credit to the great Michael Jordan,” Wallace further added.

Notably, the IndyCar versus NASCAR broadcast rivalry began after FOX became the exclusive home for the former series last year. This came when FOX was already involved with the NASCAR broadcast (the first 14 Cup Series races of the season).

As a result, FOX Sports had to prioritize one series over another, and a section of fans believes that FOX went IndyCar’s way, given they have an ownership stake (one-third) in the Roger Penske-owned competition.

Furthermore, FOX airs IndyCar alone, whereas NASCAR has TNT, Prime Video, and others, which is why it holds IndyCar as exclusive.

Moreover, data suggested that FOX has also aired more advertisements for IndyCar than NASCAR (725 versus 385) since 2025. As a result, there is an edge for IndyCar over NASCAR when it comes to FOX Sports’ broadcasting. However, the recent surge in viewership now puts FOX in an awkward position.

NASCAR insider comes clean on viewership surge amid IndyCar controversy

Amid the ongoing IndyCar versus NASCAR controversy, Brian Herbst, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief media revenue officer, shared positive data for the stock car racing competition.

Putting Michael Jordan at the forefront, Herbst confirmed that NASCAR saw a formidable jump in viewership in the first few races of the season at Daytona, Atlanta, COTA, and Phoenix. As per the report, NASCAR saw a 26 percent jump in the 18 to 34-year-old fans’ demographics.

“There’s a little bit more buzz this year. The fact that Michael has been at every single race so far this year—because he keeps winning every time he shows up—certainly helps,” Herbst said via Puck.

Apparently, Michael Jordan was loudly present in the first four races of the Cup Series season, where he rejoiced in Tyler Reddick‘s three consecutive victories. Jordan supported, cheered, and encouraged at the race tracks, while drawing in fans and engagements for broadcasters and digital media publishers.