Will Buxton reveals how Josef Newgarden’s infamous IndyCar crash created chaos at the FOX booth that sent fans into a frenzy
In the high-stakes world of open-wheel racing, where split-second decisions can turn triumph into tragedy, few moments capture the raw unpredictability of IndyCar like the dramatic flip of Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet at the 2025 Bommarito Automotive Group 500. The incident, which unfolded under the lights at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, not only derailed a potential victory for the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner but also ignited pandemonium in the FOX Sports broadcast booth. Veteran broadcaster Will Buxton, making his debut season calling IndyCar races for the network, recently peeled back the curtain on the frantic scenes that played out behind the microphones, offering a glimpse into the heart-pounding reality of live sports commentary. His revelations, shared on the DIVEBOMB IndyCar podcast, have only amplified the frenzy among fans still buzzing about one of the season’s most visceral crashes.
The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series had been a grueling campaign for Team Penske, the powerhouse squad synonymous with dominance. Entering the WWTR oval race, the team was mired in a winless drought, a stark contrast to their storied legacy. Drivers Will Power and Scott McLaughlin showed flashes of their pedigree early on, carving through the field to claim spots in the top three during the opening stint. Power’s aggressive line held strong until he pushed too hard, sliding wide and slamming into the wall, which reshuffled the pack and handed the reins to Newgarden. The Nashville native, known for his unflappable cool and back-to-back Indy 500 triumphs in 2023 and 2024, seized the opportunity. Piloting his Chevrolet with surgical precision, Newgarden methodically pulled away, stretching a commanding lead over the chasing pack. Pundits were already etching his name on the trophy; victory seemed inevitable in what could have been a season-saving statement.
But IndyCar’s ovals are unforgiving arenas, where the margin for error shrinks to mere inches amid packs of 27 cars hurtling at 180 mph. The turning point came as Newgarden lapped backmarker Louis Foster, the promising rookie from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Foster, navigating the tricky fourth turn, misjudged his line and plowed into the marbles—those treacherous loose rubber bits that turn grip into chaos. His No. 45 car snapped sideways, careening toward the outside wall before ricocheting back across the racing groove like a pinball. Newgarden, committed to the inside apex and closing fast, had no escape route. The collision was brutal: Foster’s machine clipped Newgarden’s right-rear, launching the Penske entry into a violent barrel roll. Upside down, Newgarden’s car cartwheeled through the air before slamming roof-first onto the apron and skidding the full length of the start-finish straight in a shower of sparks and debris. The broadcast feed captured every heart-stopping second, freezing viewers in collective horror as the inverted No. 2 ground to a halt against the inside barrier.
Miraculously, Newgarden climbed from the wreckage unscathed, a testament to the series’ advancing safety standards. Foster, too, emerged without serious injury. Yet the emotional toll was immediate. Newgarden, ever the stoic competitor, waved off media inquiries in the paddock, his post-race statement on social media a curt nod to resilience: “Not sure what to say, other than thank you to the AMR safety team and the safety of the car. Seemed like everything was going our way last night, until it wasn’t.” The crash handed the win to Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, but it left Penske’s championship aspirations in tatters, underscoring a season defined by mechanical gremlins and near-misses.
While the on-track drama gripped the 50,000-strong crowd at Gateway, it was the off-camera frenzy in the FOX booth that Buxton later described as the true “unforgettable highlight—or lowlight—of my announcing season.” The 42-year-old Englishman, who swapped Formula 1’s global spotlight for IndyCar’s intimate intensity after leaving F1TV at the end of 2024, was still acclimating to his role as FOX’s play-by-play voice. Flanked by analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell, Buxton had helmed a smooth broadcast up to that point, his affable British lilt injecting fresh energy into the coverage. But as the race hit a routine commercial break with Newgarden dominating, the booth descended into organized anarchy.
Buxton, ever the professional, grabbed a slice of pizza mid-ad—”You have to get your food down quickly during a commercial break just to try and keep the energy levels up,” he explained on the podcast. The plan was simple: roll hero shots of the leader, basking in his glory. “I got a piece of pizza in one hand, there’s the Josef Newgarden hero shots playing, he’s leading.” Then, catastrophe. Urgent comms crackled in his earpiece from pit reporter Pam Hypher and analyst Mitch Reilly: “It was Mitch or Pam or both… screaming… ‘We’re coming back, we’re coming back, we’re coming back.'” The feed snapped live, replacing triumphant replays with the nightmare of Newgarden’s airborne flip. “They cut the hero shots and Josef’s upside down, skidding down the track. That will stick in the memory for a very, a very, very long time.”
The revelation, timestamped around the 20-minute mark of the DIVEBOMB episode, struck a chord with fans already reeling from the visuals. Social media erupted in the immediate aftermath, with posts hailing the crash as “terrifying” and “one of the worst I’ve seen recently,” as one observer noted while sharing helmet-cam footage of the impact. Motorsport accounts amplified the chaos, drawing over 57,000 views to clips of the inverted skid, accompanied by prayers for the drivers’ safety. The frenzy spilled into debates over fault—Foster’s rookie error versus Newgarden’s lapping aggression—with replies piling up in the hundreds, blending relief with raw adrenaline. “Louis Foster spun out on his own, and Josef Newgarden unfortunately committed in the wrong direction,” tweeted journalist Ryan Erik King, encapsulating the split-second cruelty that defines oval racing. By race end, hashtags like #NewgardenCrash trended, fueling a digital storm that outlasted the checkered flag.
Buxton’s candid retelling, delivered with his signature humor amid the horror, humanized the broadcast grind. For newcomers to IndyCar’s airwaves, it was a baptism by fire; for veterans like Reilly, a reminder of why the job demands unyielding vigilance. As Penske regrouped for Road America—where Newgarden posted a defiant “It will only make the successes even sweeter”—the incident lingered as a pivotal what-if. FOX’s maiden IndyCar season under Buxton’s lead had its triumphs, from nail-biting finishes to crossover appeal, but this booth-side scramble encapsulated its edge-of-your-seat essence.
In retrospect, the crash wasn’t just a derailment for Newgarden; it was a microcosm of 2025’s unpredictability, where leads evaporate and pizzas go uneaten. Fans, still dissecting replays months later, credit Buxton’s voiceover for amplifying the terror, turning a routine lap into legend. As the off-season looms, one thing’s clear: in IndyCar, chaos isn’t just part of the race—it’s the broadcast too. And Buxton’s pizza-fueled panic? That’s the story they’ll tell for years.
