Which IndyCar Driver Takes the Twitter Checkered Flag?

A look at which Verizon IndyCar series drivers have the most followers on Twitter. — Photo: NY Post

Drivers, start your fingers!

Twitter has become the primary source for all sorts of people to connect with each other. With 140 characters, you can send out your thoughts in an instant along with pictures, videos, and links to websites or anything, really.

This means of communication has become especially powerful for celebrities and athletes, including IndyCar drivers. The ability to respond to others’ tweets is easy and fast, connecting the fan and driver together. But which IndyCar driver is harnessing this power the best? We took a look at current IndyCar drivers and their Twitter profiles to see who is getting the most following on Twitter.  

To start, it’s worth noting that even the most followed IndyCar driver comes no where close to the most followed Formula One driver. That title goes to Lewis Hamilton, the 2014 World Champion, who has over 2.6 million followers on Twitter. Following closely behind him is McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, who has over 2.2 million followers. In comparison, the highest followed IndyCar driver has around 2 million less followers.

But these numbers aren’t really surprising. After all, Formula One is a truly world wide sport, has been around longer, and has a larger following than IndyCar. Sure, IndyCar does venture outside the States sometimes, but not nearly on the same scale that F1 does. The 2015 F1 calendar is set to travel to 20 different countries this season; IndyCar is scheduled for races in the United States and Canada only.

Narrowing our field down to just IndyCar drivers, and we see a wide gap in the follower count between drivers. This is due to a number of factors, namely popularity and how active the driver is on social media. 

Only four drivers have over 100,000 followers on Twitter, and the top two drivers have more followers than all of the other drivers combined. These numbers are tiny compared to the F1 world. 

Some notables include Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2014 Indy 500 winner, who comes in with 54,100 followers. James Hinchcliffe, who is very active on Twitter with over 11,000 tweets, has 56,500 followers. Marco Andretti sits at 81,900 and Graham Rahal is at 66,000 followers.

And now we get to Will Power, 2014 IndyCar series Champion. He must have a big following, right?

Wrong. The Aussie has amassed just 61,200 followers during his time on Twitter.

Now we get to the big four, the top IndyCar drivers with the most followers on Twitter. 

In fourth, Helio Castroneves with 127,000 followers since opening his account in 2009. Dario Franchitti, although not an active driver anymore1, comes in at third with 136,000 followers on his account. 

At the number two spot is Tony Kanaan. TK has been racing in the series and using Twitter for a long time. Since joining in 2009, he has gained over 628,000 followers on the site.

And the number one most followed driver on Twitter? Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya beats out Kanaan by nearly 300,000 followers and has over 8,000 tweets sent. His popularity can be attributed to his many years racing and the different series he competed in. Montoya has driven in Formula One, NASCAR, and IndyCar throughout his career, gaining fans (and followers) from each series.

It’s clear IndyCar drivers just don’t have the same following as Formula One drivers do, but some of them are making significant inroads on the problem. 

You can view the entire list of the drivers and their Twitter followers below. And if you’re interested in keeping up with Single Seater, you can follow us on Twitter here. 

table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 7px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #55acee; color: #FFF; font-weight: normal; }

Data as of March 4, 2015.
—–
Footnotes:1. Dario Franchitti was included due to his involvement with the series and his popularity on the social network.