Good times, rolling

 Sometimes you forget IndyCar has a whole series and not just one race, and by "sometimes" I mean "pretty much all the time." This is because IndyCar is and has been for a long time epically clumsy at marketing its product.

But occasionally the sun does shine on its hindparts. Or, you know, something like that.

To start with, the one IndyCar race America actually watches, the Indianapolis 500, was an instant classic. After a four-hour rain delay that only ramped up the anticipation, the race was a three-hour carnival of crazy: Eighteen different leaders; drivers barreling three and sometimes four-wide down its long narrow straights and through its square-jawed narrow corners; and finally Josef Newgarden passing Pato O'Ward for the lead in turn three on the last lap after O'Ward had passed him for the lead as the last lap began.

It was a hell of a show, and even people who barely know motorsports exists thought so. As did the 345,000 fans who crammed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's massive expanse to watch it in person.

Then came yesterday.

When IndyCar finally, finally announced it was dumping an increasingly disinterested NBC as its network partner, and was signing a new deal with FOX that is expected to raise the series' profile and pump some needed cash into a product whose operating costs -- especially for the smaller teams -- have become problematical.

Under the new agreement, FOX will air every one of IndyCar's 17 races on its flagship  channel, as well as carry live qualifying and practice sessions on its streaming and cable entities. What IndyCar hopes (expects, really) is this will bring more eyeballs to its product, and by bringing more eyeballs attract the sponsorship dollars that are lifeblood of any motorsport venture.

An all-flagship schedule might even enable series owner Roger Penske to lure a third engine supplier -- something that has consistently eluded IndyCar, and (let's face it) would remain a hard nut even with the expected ratings bump the FOX deal should provide.

In any event, IndyCar's in a yea better position now than it was with NBC, which is airing roughly half this season's races on either Peacock or USA. It even announced it might have moved the 500 -- the biggest motorsports event in the world -- to USA had the rains stuck around and pushed the race to Monday.

The network suits likely would have characterized that as a business decision. More invested folks (i.e.: me) thought it was NBC sticking its thumb in IndyCar's eye in the most blatant way possible.

So good for IndyCar for going with FOX, which is now the motorsports network because of its dual alliance with NASCAR. And here's hoping it can do for IndyCar what it's done for the stock car boys -- because NASCAR, while diminished these days, remains America's dominant motorsports series almost 30 years after Tony George and CART tore IndyCar apart and left the field wide open for Jeff Gordon 'n' Dale Earnhardt 'n' them.

In the Blob's completely biased view, IndyCar right now is a better product than NASCAR, as competitive and thick with talent as its been since long before the Split. Now it gets its best chance in a long time to show it off.

Let the good times roll, in other words. Like, really fast.