Episode 228: Mark Miles, CEO of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment
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Concept
IndyCar
IndyCar is a type of car racing that takes place on different types of tracks, including very fast oval tracks. It's famous for the Indianapolis 500 race, which is one of the biggest events in motorsport.
Concept
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a very famous racetrack in the United States where many important car races happen, including the Indianapolis 500, which is a big deal in racing.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and stronger the car can be.
Concept
Formula One
Formula One, or F1, is a popular type of car racing that features very fast cars and races held all over the world. It's known for its exciting events and skilled drivers.
Concept
motorsports
Motorsports are sports that involve racing cars, motorcycles, or other vehicles. They include many different types of racing events and have become more popular in recent years.
Car
Ford Rangers
The Ford Ranger is a type of truck that's great for carrying things and going off-road, like on dirt paths or trails. It's popular because it's tough and can handle a lot of different tasks, making it a good choice for people who need a reliable vehicle for work or fun.
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The automobile is one of the most important inventions that revolutionize the modern world.
In America, the rich history of car culture runs deep.
This technology continues to shape the future of the industry.
Jason Stein is here to share the stories of people passionate about cars,
from industry leaders and innovators to car-obsessed celebrities.
Buckle up as Jason takes you inside the boardroom, onto the track, and around the bend,
on Cars and Culture on SiriusXM Business Radio.
Welcome in to episode 228 of Cars and Culture with Jason Stein here on SiriusXM Business Channel 132.
Great to have you along for the ride again this week.
For more than a decade, Mark Miles has been at the center of one of the most dramatic transformations in American motorsport.
As CEO of Penske Entertainment, he has overseen IndyCar's Resurgence,
a series that's found new life through innovation, stability and global attention,
while also guiding the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the world's most iconic racing venue,
into a new era under Roger Penske's leadership.
From the success of the Indianapolis 500's modern Renaissance
to the challenges and opportunities of growing the series internationally,
Miles has shaped the strategy behind IndyCar's remarkable momentum,
balancing tradition with change and technology with human drama.
He's a leader who thinks as much about business models and fan engagement
as he does about racing lines and horsepower.
And as the sport looks toward hybrid power, new markets and a younger audience,
Miles' role is as critical as ever.
Today in New York we sit down to talk about the business of speed,
the evolving future of open-wheel racing,
the vision of Team Penske's wider entertainment platform
and the enduring power of America's most storied race.
Mark Miles joins me next on Cars and Culture with Jason Stein.
Hi, I'm Mark Miles and this is Cars and Culture with Jason Stein.
What a pleasure to be around you and at this wonderful event here in New York City.
What a pleasure it is to be around you and this wonderful event here in New York City,
celebrating car culture and the motorsport business exchange
and the passion around American interest in racing.
And it's had a perfect time to sit down with you to talk about
the goals and ambitions of the circuit that you are in charge of now.
Thank you for being on the program.
It's a real pleasure and we're fired up about this event.
We spend a lot of time looking at each other in motorsports,
more like competitors than a symbiotic effect or approach.
But here we're together and it's going to be fun to talk with the industry
about what we have in common and maybe we'll get to some sidebar
conversations about more we can do together.
Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the popularity of racing in America today.
Of course, we just talked to Dan about Cadillac and Formula One
and I know that there's a renewed interest or maybe a new interest in F1
but it's also transcending down to a lot of other motorsports activities here
and the popularity of that.
Where do you see the American fan and the American consumer now on racing?
Let me first just say one of Dan Towers' biggest fans.
He came and we became friends through his sponsorship of an LPGA golf event
at the Breakyard Crossing Golf Course at our place.
Oh right, yeah.
And we really got close there and then he just got the bug
and invested a lot and has helped IndyCar grow in Andretti
and now he's got a global view.
So all credit to Dan.
Listen, we couldn't be more, we can always be happier about more growth
but we couldn't be more pleased with where IndyCar stands right now.
And the big headline from this year, 2025, was the new relationship with Fox.
We hit Pam on the program too by the way, Pam Miller.
Oh great, yeah.
She is a car person.
She is a total car person and she was incredibly excited to be.
We talked to her just before St. Pete and how excited she was
to get the season going and what that all meant.
She did her homework and she never stopped.
I get along in the tooth and I've dealt with a lot of broadcasters
and like the people at NBC, I've dealt with my whole life.
I have great personal friendships and I've always admired their work
and I think their passion for motorsports generally.
And so it's not lost on me that when you start a new relationship
there's always a lot of rhetoric about how they're going to help you
move the needle and all that and everybody does, they do what they do.
Fox has absolutely, I think, under promised and over delivered.
How so?
Well, let's just start with the basics.
They in fact have delivered a platform so that every one of our races
is live on network and I know in places like New York and LA
people talk about networks almost as though they're Neanderthal.
I mean it is delivering a huge audience.
For us it was a 27% increase in the average audience for IndyCar races.
Almost doubled the younger demographic from 18 to 34.
So don't let anybody tell you that young people won't watch sports on network.
They are doing it.
I think the way they show our racing has been outstanding.
I think the tower team they put together is connecting with a growing
audience for us and they're great at explaining and creating interest in the sport.
And then they've done things to help promote the sport that honestly
we hadn't talked about.
That just we were just, I wish we could take credit for it.
Maybe we encouraged them.
They were phenomenal.
You think back to the first commercials they created to show the personality of
three of our best known drivers at the time and propel their notoriety and their stardom
further and then this year by the way there'll be more than those three.
But they showed them, you know, in the Super Bowl and threw out their coverage of the
playoffs and it's happening again this year.
Maybe we'll talk about that.
So we just couldn't be more pleased.
27%, if you look at all US sports that have an average audience of a million or more per telecast,
27% is far and away the largest growth.
So we're not the biggest base obviously.
But I think it's fair to say Eric Shanks likes to say IndyCar has momentum.
And as we morph into much more of a marketing organization and everything we do and the way
we think about how we put ourselves forward, momentum is huge.
And so lots of plans coming together for extending that momentum in 2026.
You're leading IndyCar through tremendous change.
Not only the broadcast end of it but ownership transitions, new areas of growth,
a new era of growth.
How do you define where IndyCar stands today?
Well, in time I would say I'd make this point about momentum.
I think we're in a really good place.
We're seeing more investment.
We're seeing investment from owners or prospective owners.
We're seeing we've more than doubled the number and value of sponsorships in the last five years.
So we're on a roll in a lot of ways.
But we think we've got a long, you know, a huge upside.
So I feel like if I tried to answer what that means, I'd be capping it.
But in addition to the things you talked about and perhaps other questions we would have gotten
us to this, but our attendance is up basically almost everywhere and meaningfully.
And that saying something when you've got street race that starts this season and St.
Over 20 consecutive years or 51 years in Long Beach.
And then there's the 500 sold out for only the second time.
So the attendance, I think, is indicative of the growth of the sport, not just the metric
related to TV audiences.
But it's also part of our plan to grow the sport and the IndyCar positioning in the
future. We're going to invest more in our events.
There's sort of two easy ways to think about it.
One, we're going to over the next few years, I don't know what the number will be,
but we sort of say to each other, if we could add one event a year for the next three or four
years that are new and in major hot markets, that would be very useful.
And we can introduce them in the way we are sure our new event in Arlington will be introduced in
2026. So that we have partners like the Cowboys and the Rangers.
That's phenomenal. If you live in Texas right now, you're getting all kinds of messages from
Jerry Jones and the Cowboys and the Rangers. So new partners, new markets,
and there'll be a steady, I don't know how high is up, how many we'll bring on in the next
few years, but it's a real focus. And then we're looking at the events that we've got
and we'll start with the ones that are sort of furthest along and make series investments
in those events with the promoters to take them to a whole new level.
And there's a long menu of the things that we'll invest in or they will invest in.
So our ambition would be that if you go to St. Pete this March and you were there last March,
you'll say wow. This is the vision and the aspiration, but the idea is not just incremental
improvement over a period of time, but big jump in five or six of our key events from 25 to 26.
You talk a lot about leadership as alignment. You have talked about that,
getting the paddock, the teams, the partners all moving together. What's been key to building that
unity? There's no substitute for great communication, but I don't think we've been
good enough. I think there's an upside for us and Doug Bowles is great at it. We do it.
Roger does it. So more of that. I think they have to have confidence that we
are absolutely committed not to maintaining, but to growing. And if they understand Roger
Penske's investment in his, it's not his business goal. It's his mission to be the trustee that
takes it, he and his family for the next few generations to a whole other levels. And I
think they understand that's real. And they're not looking to us for harebrained ideas, but for
deliberate on what we promise. And I think they're coming together in that way. There was an issue
obviously around Roger's ownership and governance and some officiating stuff that came up.
But we're committed to making important changes in all that structure. That's sort of the
last thing I think that we got to get out of the way to be in a really, really good place.
Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. What kind of progress you're making on that,
but it sounds like you are making progress. We have probably four different alternative
approaches that we've developed internally beginning to talk to team owners about,
talk to other key stakeholders. And certainly this year before, well before the end of the
year, we'll pick the path and get going. Yeah. How important, just a couple more things,
how important are personalities and maybe drivers storytelling to IndyCars growth strategy?
So many sports really play on that. The storytelling of whatever successful lead
you want to look at. You certainly did it in the ATP, had plenty of personalities there.
It's fundamentally important. And in part it's a mindset and it's a commitment and it's
the planning and the execution of those plans and some of its resources. And here again,
having a media partner like Fox that is all in on developing the driver personalities
is hugely important because it is a big net gain in the creativity and the resources committed
to having that result. So it's a very high priority for us. It's also true that we feel
like the drivers, these drivers, we can talk about tennis, but we won't, are all in to help grow the
sport. I don't call an agent to say, can somebody do an interview? And our communication staff,
our marketing staff calls the drivers, would you take, you want to take over our Instagram site
and they just go. And so I think we have great talent on the track, but off the track and
their mindset is right about helping grow the sport and making themselves a big part of that growth.
A lot of talk of technology, technological advancements that are coming,
also cost control and competition integrity, right? You've got to balance those two things
at the same time. How do you do that? It's a great question because it's really hard. I mean,
we can run a business that's strictly driven by the P&L and always look at every expense that
could come down at all, but we know we have to invest. And when you talk about technology and
officiating technology in the new car, technology for that it's available to the teams and the
media, it's really important. And I think we're just on the cusp. I mean, AI in race control
and elsewhere will make a real impact for us soon. Finally, younger fans. I mean, there's
Formula One, there's been studies out about how it's really appealing, especially in this country
to a certain demographic that it has never before. Under 25 segments, certainly under 30 segments,
you're drive toward attracting younger fans. I'm guessing is high priority on your list.
Of course it is. And again, we feel really good about progress this year where we nearly
doubled the 18 to 34 demo in our live race audiences on network, which a lot of people
think is an oxymoron that you don't get young people to watch networks. Not true. So it's a
great platform. They know where to go, they get it. And then there's the drivers and our own
marketing and communication staff along with Foxes. So a lot more effort, a lot more focused,
very driver centric. And I think we got a lot, a lot to attract people with.
Let's talk about old traditions versus technology. The Indy 500 and all of its rich
history would be the definition of a tradition while incorporating technology. How do you view
that world? It's a great question. And it's something we think about a lot, especially
about the 500, but really hopefully in everything we do. I spent a lot of time around Rimbledon,
Revolve. We got great relationships with people who run the masters and that's the national.
And there are just a few brands in the planet that you think of as steeped in tradition. But
every one of them, they're still around because they grow. And every one of them is actually
quite innovative and makes investment. So it's interesting for us. You think about the 500,
there are things, it is a kind of alchemy. It's not a formula. And so there are things that anybody
who's ever watched our race, that race on television or more importantly probably been there know
that they can expect from the pre-race. And that's 300 members of our military and first
responders walking through the pits and then driving around the track. It's taps. It's
back home again. Back at home again. It does. And much more and those things won't change.
On the other hand, now we have a 25,000 person crazed kid concert that's an EDM festival in the
infield. That's right. That's an innovation. And it's working by the way. We sell it
and they come without even being able to see the track. But if my kids are any example,
they get to a point in life when an EDM festival is probably behind them. And then they want to go
watch the race they've been hearing about in the middle of all these years. It's this year,
you know, I don't remember how many Black Hawk helicopters we had follow the cars around maybe
40 feet in the air all the way around. It's just always coming up with things that don't
offend the sensibilities of our traditions but add some new elements and investments.
We will continue to make sure that the facilities are breaking new ground for us. And all that,
I think, has led to sustained success. We sold it out again in 2025, which we're very proud of.
Amazing. IndyCar has long been known for its parity. Maybe it's unpredictability.
It's part of the appeal. How do you preserve that competitive balance while still growing
the spectacle? Yeah, well, it's a great question because we were always beating our
chests about how it can come down to the last lap of the championship to figure out who
is going to win it. And then we have this guy named Palu who could have clinched it after the 500.
He's just been so dominant. It's humbled us a little bit and made us think a little bit
more about it. His performances are phenomenal and we just have to celebrate that. It was
just so extraordinary. Not the first time but his results are extraordinary. But you look
up and down the grid and it's never going to be the case that wherever somebody qualifies
is going to determine where they're going to end the race. The racing is great up and down the grid
at all of our races and all the formats. And I think if you can talk to the drivers,
they'll tell you it's a driver's series. It's not just about the car that they're given
and how it's set up for a given race. It's them too. And so we love the balance between
the car, the cruise, the strategy, but most of all the drivers. There's a reason we don't have
power steering. We want it to be demanding physically of drivers and I think they appreciate that.
I remember Jimmy Johnson telling me one of the early interviews four years ago when he first
got into an Indy car, I mean he was beat up. I mean he couldn't believe the strength and the
endurance and the stamina. Here's a guy who's driven ovals and a NASCAR forever and as a champion.
It's true. I don't know exactly what NFL players do, but our guys are working on their necks every
day and their core and deal with those G-forces and the physical aspects of throwing that car
around. So yeah, they're real athletes and I think it's a distinguishing factor in some respects.
There's a unique American identity to IndyCar, open-wheel, high-tech, get deeply human.
How do you describe the culture of the series? You know it's a great again a great question.
When I started and getting involved in 2013, I can't tell you how many times the fan refrain was
you know get the Americans back. There was a sense that there had been a transition and that
it was no longer the American series. Today more than half of our drivers are not from the United
States. I never hear it. People, American fans, IndyCar fans have embraced the diversity of
backgrounds and cultures. So I think they've just come to see how good they are and that they're
not pushing American drivers out and so it's a really healthy positive attribute of IndyCar
racing today that IndyCar is a great mix of international drivers and Americans.
Let's talk a little bit about the Penske ownership. You alluded to it earlier but
I want to ask how has Roger and the family getting involved? How has that changed the culture,
maybe the direction of what you're doing? And I know, I mean somebody told me that they knew
that Roger Penske was involved when they walked around the Speedway. You know,
shortly after ownership post COVID and there wasn't a hot dog wrapper on the ground and he
changed the garbage cans. And you couldn't find the rest. Right, right. A real metamorphosis.
Well, there's a long story in that I'll maybe start with and then get more broadly. You know,
when the company was sold to Roger, you have how you deal with working capital. You know
that and in this case the sellers took the cash. Well, the cash included a pile of money
because the way we sell tickets to the 500 is that from the checkered flag of one year's race
for 500 hours, if you want to renew and get the same seats or a chance of a better seat,
you buy your tickets. Right. So 160 plus thousand seats had been sold before Roger
bought the company and the cash was there and went there. And Roger, you know, okay, because
we'll get ours in the next month. Right. Except COVID happens. So zero cash coming in from that
source that year. He had to issue credits for all 160,000 tickets. So the next year in 2021,
they were already, he wouldn't get any cash for that to speak of. And so that was when, I think,
we in the entire paddock and all the people who love IndyCar Racing and Indy500 realized that
thank God he bought the place because it would have been very, very challenging for us.
But more importantly, in an important way, he didn't sit around and worry about it.
He came to Indy almost every weekend during the COVID years. And we'd sit and walk and drive
and look at what's next. He spent about a hundred million dollars when he didn't have that money
and he didn't have the money coming in. Place was essentially shut down. Another hundred million
on top of buying it to use because he saw it as an opportunity to do all kinds of work,
not just picking up paper when we finally had fans there, but getting rid of everything.
Let's get it done now when we have an open schedule and we can, it's all us.
Make the improvements now. Right. But who thinks that way? It really is incredible.
Then on an operating basis going forward, I mean, he is amazing because he's
relentless sounds like a negative word, but he just never stops caring and working
on every part of our business. I'm sure all of his businesses. The result is
it translates to our entire staff, our whole organization. We all care deeply about it being
doing everything we can to make it the best it can be. And that's, we could go on forever
about how that rolls out. But, and the other thing is we all make mistakes, right? I've never
heard Roger ever sort of take somebody on for making a mistake. It's the same if he loses a race.
It's not my job. I'm not running Team Penske, but whether it's a loss on the track for his team
or I make a mistake in the business, you just move on instantly. It's just all positivity and
forward looking and it's a very inspiring thing to be associated with. Thanks for doing this with me.
Yeah, pleasure. Good to see you. Pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much. Okay.
Thank you again to my guest today, Mark Miles, CEO of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment.
To see more cars and culture interviews, visit the Cars and Culture YouTube channel.
Subscribe, comment, and check out hundreds of conversations with the creators, collectors,
and culture makers who are driving the industry forward. That's episode 228. I'm your host, Jason
Stein. We'll see you down the road.
About this episode
Mark Miles, CEO of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment, discusses the revitalization of IndyCar under his leadership, focusing on innovation, fan engagement, and the sport's future. He highlights the significant growth in viewership, particularly among younger demographics, and the strategic partnerships that have fueled this momentum. The conversation touches on the balance between tradition and technology, the importance of driver storytelling, and the challenges of maintaining competitive integrity while expanding the sport. Miles emphasizes the positive impact of Roger Penske's ownership on IndyCar's culture and operations.
Original notes
Mark Miles, CEO of IndyCar and Penske Entertainment
Cars & Culture with Jason Stein
SiriusXM
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25:15