In its first broadcast on Fox, the Indianapolis 500 saw more viewers tuning into the race on TV at home than we've seen in nearly two decades.

Sunday's Indianapolis 500 had its biggest television audience in 17 years. Alex Palou's victory averaged 7.05 million viewers on Fox, according to Nielsen. That is the largest audience since 2008, when Scott Dixon's win averaged 7.

Fox Sports’ coverage of the Indianapolis 500, the crown jewel of U.S. car races, drew 7.05 million viewers for Sunday’s running, the network said. That metric, based on Nielsen fast nationals, is up 40% over last year’s race viewership and makes this year’s race the most-watched Indy 500 since 2008.

The runaway IndyCar Series points leader wins the Indianapolis 500 by overtaking Marcus Ericsson. Palou, seeking his third series championship in four years, has won five of this year's six races. Palou celebrates on the front straightaway.

In an affirmation of his status as one of the best IndyCar drivers of his generation, Alex Palou took the lead from Marcus Ericsson with 14 laps to go and led the rest of the way to win the 109th Indianapolis 500,

Halfway through the race and as of this writing, eight drivers were out of the race but drivers like Josef Newgarden, seeking his third straight Indy 500 win, and Helio Castroneves, seeking his recording-breaking fifth ever Indy 500 win, were still in the mix.

Kyle Larson’s day went from bad to worse Sunday night at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on a day when he hoped to complete “The Double” — leaving him unsure if he will try to complete the 1,100-mile mar